Sky of Stars: Rise of the Red Star
by Goldenkitty2
Summary: Redpaw wants what any apprentice wants to be: A warrior, a leader, a hero. However, he feels his is living the typical apprentice life. All he wants, is to be a hero. But as he grows and discovers, he learns what being a hero means. War. Traitors. Enemies. Lies. Will he be the rising star, or be destroyed by it?
1. Chapter 1

Barksky led Spottedfur down a trail over the hills. It was dusk, and the sky had become vibrant, and brilliant.

Spottedfur, a speckled tortoiseshell she-cat, gazed up at the watercolor sky, in awe of the stars. The colors of twilight seemed to paint the sky.

"StarClan watches us tonight," she murmured

"Indeed," agreed Barksky, a brown tabby tom, "A fine night to be at the moonflower."

They continued on a bit more, in silence, paws sweeping the cool grass. Spottedfur's gaze widened a bit, "To be honest, I'm a little nervous."

"About what?"

"Seeing my ancestors, and my kin. I never made peace with them. I know they won't reject me, but what will they say when they see me becoming leader, when they've already died?"

Barksky closed his eyes in thought, "Spottedfur, you say that as if they might envy you, the living. But if you ask me, I believe we're the ones who should be envying them."

"You think we should envy the dead?" asked Spottedfur, tilting her head.

"I'm not saying we should wish that we were dead. But when I see my ancestors up there, laughing, residing in complete peace, having that whole sky up there the bound in with endless possibilities, it would be silly to think that StarClan warriors wish that they were still alive."

"I suppose so," murmured Spottedfur.

"And you? You're the finest deputy MistClan's ever seen. You know I don't say such things just for compliments, Spottedfur. I mean it."

Spottedfur bowed her head in thanks.

Soon, the two of them reached the bottom of the hills, where the entrance to the cave was. They quietly crept inside. Following their sensitive whiskers, they found a chamber. The chamber was beautiful, lined with purple and blue-white flowers that seemed to glow.

In the middle of the chamber, a gorgeous violet flower, proud and tall.

Spottedfur smiled with nervous anticipation, "I feel like an apprentice again."

Barksky smiled back, then closed his eyes again, "Spottedfur, my deputy, close your eyes, sleep in the presence of the moonflower. May StarClan welcome you among their ranks."

Hesitantly, Spottedfur curled up and closed her eyes, before she was drawn into a deep sleep. Barksky did the same.

Spottedfur woke up in the hollow, surrounded by hundreds of StarClan warriors.

Barksky watched with them.

A starry black she-cat walked up to Spottedfur, who took a step back. The black cat smiled. Regret shown on her face, "Do not fear, my daughter. Our quarrels are gone."

"But we never made peace," whispered Spottedfur in horror.

"Oh, darling, don't say that. Look closer, my Spottedfur. Then you can realize that we made peace long ago."

Barksky watched as Spottedfur's eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mother interrupted her.

"Spottedfur, my sweet, sweet child, with this life, I give you the wonder and innocence of a kit. For those who do will find peace in the cruel world you live in."

While Barksky watched, he felt someone prod his shoulder. He turned, to find a black StarClan warrior.

"Badgerclaw?"

"Shh, listen to me quietly, we're not supposed to speak during the ceremony."

Barksky stared at him in confusion.

"After you and Spottedfur fell asleep, another medicine cat and their deputy came."

"So?"

"No one believes me, but I've this in the mist: When two leaders are given their nine lives on the same moon on the same night, it's an omen."

Barksky scoffed, "Do you StarClan cats make these things up as you go? That's ridiculous! What would it possibly be an omen of?"

"It just means something big is going to happen. I don't know it it's good or bad, but if it's bad, a lot of cats will pay for it!" he whispered hoarsely.

Barksky folded his ears and stared at him.

"Spottedfur, with this life I give you judgement. Use it not to judge others, but to choose the path in which your clan shall take," a brown tom leaned forward and touched noses with Spottedfur. She yowled in pain.

Barksky shook his head, "Look Badgerclaw, that's very vague, too vague to act upon,"

"But -"

"Just let me watch the ceremony. I'm sure two deputies becoming leaders on the same night doesn't foreshadow death to the clans."

Badgerclaw scowled. He strode past him, whispering in his ear, "You'll regret this."

Barksky watched him trail away, He shook it off, and continued to watch the ceremony.

A ginger she-cat walked up to Spottedfur. Barksky knew this was her deceased sister.

"And finally, with this life I give you compassion. Compassion is among the most powerful things a leader can use to maintain the respect of his or her clanmates, and to lead."

Once more, Spottedfur withered in pain, but after it faded away, she stood up, with her head raised high.

"Spottedfur, you have proven yourself as a deputy. Tonight, your new lives take wing. Your old life is no more. With this precious gift StarClan has given you, do you promise to dedicate every breath of your new lives to justice, goodness, and leadership?"

"I do."

"Then by the will of StarClan, I name her Spottedstar."

The StarClan cats erupted into the most glorious cheering Barksky and Spottedstar had ever heard.

" _Spottedstar! Spottedstar! Spottedstar! Spottedstar!"_

Joy seemed to radiate in the atmosphere. For a moment they wished they could stay and celebrate with StarClan forever.

But just as soon as it started, the StarClan cats and the hollow began to fade. Barksky and Spottedstar woke up in the chamber of the moonflower, where they started. Sure enough, two other cats were in the chamber, sleeping among the the flowers. They were from LochClan.

Barksky hesitated. Was Badgerclaw's warning valid? He was a StarClan cat, after all. But the other StarClan cats disagreed with him…

He turned, to see his new leader wake up. Her eyes were bright, in wonder.

 _I'll tell her about later,_ he thought, _No use worrying the brand-new leader. She'll find out soon enough. Even if Badgerclaw's warning is true, how bad could it be?_


	2. The Allegiances

**The Allegiances**

/

 **MistClan**

 **Leader:** Spottedstar: Slim, speckled black tortoiseshell she-cat with big yellow eyes

 **Deputy:** Stoneflower: Tough, broad-shouldered gray and white she-cat with silvery blue eyes

 **Medicine Cat:** Barksky: Short dark brown tabby tom with a white splotched underbelly and paws.

Apprentice: Tigerfall: Lithe striped ginger and white she cat with a long tail and glowing yellow eyes

 **Warriors:** Sleek, black and white tom

Swiftstem: Small, swift handsome ginger and white tom with a splotched coat

Kestrelbreeze: Small brown she-cat with distinctive black stripes

Cloudstream: Well-muscled white she-cat with black patches on her head and back

Stormleaf: Fierce reddish-brown tabby she-cat

Graydust: Older light gray and white tabby tom with amber eyes

Hatchnose: Big, light orange tom with a white chest, paws, and mark on face. Has a scarred nose

Brindlewillow: Mostly black tortoiseshell she-cat with a white splotch on chest

Spicefur: Ginger and white she-cat with yellow eyes, and fur the color of autumn leaves

Adderfoot: Skinny and stealthy cream tom with curved ears

Brookshadow: Lean, thin black she-cat with a large scar (a paw wide) running from above her eye to her chin

 **Apprentices:** Redpaw: Small, well-muscled dark ginger tom

Leafpaw: Small, light ginger she-cat

 **Queens:** Roseclaw: Dark, spotted ginger she-cat

Whiteleaf: Extremely pale cream and white she-cat with dark-colored eyes. Has fur so pale and rough it resembles frost

Robinstep: Scrawny, swift-footed ginger and white she-cat with yellow eyes

 **Elders:** Russetear: Frail dark ginger tom with a part of his ear missing

Mothberry: Messy-furred gray and white she-cat

Cedarfur: Long-furred brown tom with amber eyes and a crippled leg

/

 **CloudClan**

 **Leader:** Goldenstar - Golden, charming tabby tom with amber eyes

 **Deputy:** Eaglestorm - Speckled gray tom with blue eyes and a scarred nose

 **Medicine Cat:** Rowanleaf - Sleek black and gray tom with blue eyes

Apprentice: Blazepaw

 **Warriors:** Brightclaw - Muscular, scarred, short-furred calico she-cat with yellow eyes

Maplewing - Yellow tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Rustfur - Brown tom with reddish underbelly and misty black stripe down back

Flamefur - A light ginger tabby she cat, with blue eyes and a scar down her back

Spiderfang - Big black tom with amber eyes

Snowstrike - White she-cat with a gray stripe along spine with blue eyes, has one deaf ear

Crookedface - Light brown tabby tom with dark stripes, and a malformed face

Flintfang - Ferocious gray tabby and white tom with yellow eyes

Crowstep - Small, swift black tom

Houndtail - Tall black and tan tom

 **Apprentices:** Waterpaw - Light, blue-silver she-cat with blue eyes

Flamepaw - Scarred, short-furred red tom with green eyes

Blazepaw - Red tom with green eyes

 **Queens:** Swiftfire - Small ginger she-cat with a white tail and amber eyes

Spottedtail - Dark ginger she-cat with golden eyes and black spots on her tail (Mother of Swallowkit, Petalkit, and Applekit)

Roseclaw - Longhaired red she-cat with green eyes

 **Elders:** Berryflight - Ragged black she-cat with twisted leg, missing tail, one blind and one amber eye

Milkpelt - Blind, light cream she-cat with nicked ears

Sleetfang - Silvery speckled old tom with gray spots

/

 **BlazeClan**

 **Leader:** Hawkstar - Muscular, dark fawn tom

 **Deputy:** Bluespots - White and blue-gray tom with green eyes

 **Medicine Cat:** Speckledream - Pale brown she-cat with darker speckles and green eyes

Apprentice: Grayblaze - White tom with black patches. Blind in one eye

 **Warriors:** Bearheart - Big, ragged-furred, solid blackish-brown tom

Thunderfoot - Big white tom with gray patches

Dapplemoon - Dark gold and ginger dappled she-cat with green eyes

Thrushfur - Gray tabby tom with a white chest and amber eyes

Sunfade - Pale ginger tabby she-cat with white paws and golden eyes

Falconpelt - Golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Eaglestrike - Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Fawnfur - Pale brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes and large white paws

Willowsky - Silver tabby she-cat with white paws and blue eyes

Ashleaf - Gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Oakwing - Dark brown tabby tom with green eyes

Dawnbird - Pale gray and white she-cat with green eyes

Cloudwind - White fluffy tom with yellow eyes

 **Apprentices:** Heatherpaw - Brown gray she-cat with black rosary spots

Dustpaw - Light brown tom with pale yellow eyes and a nick in his left ear

Moonpaw - White she-cat with blue eyes and gray ears

Amberpaw - Ginger she-cat with front white paws and amber eyes

 **Queens:** Icemoon: Pale, silver tabby with a white underbelly and green eyes. (Mother of Grasskit and Flarekit)

Finchheart - Pretty golden brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

 **Elders:** Redcloud - Unkempt dusty golden she-cat

/

 **DarkClan**

 **Leader:** Duskstar - Lithe, gray she-cat with lovely green eyes

 **Deputy:** Dawnripple - Dark gray she-cat with vivid green eyes

 **Medicine Cat:** Bloomclaw - Big gray-cream tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow-ivory eyes

 **Warriors:** Stormnose - Solid blue-gray cat with amber eyes

Snowstone - White and gray patched tom with blue eyes

Rockclaw - Big dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes and a scarred pelt

Sagewhisker - Light blueish gray transgender cat with silver splotches and a white underbelly

Leafstorm - Brown tom with white paws and emerald eyes

Snowcrystal - Pure white she-cat

Falconstrike - Brown tabby tom with sky blue eyes

Lightningclaw - Scarred black tom with white paws and black eyes

Wolfheart - Strong yellow tom with large ears

Mottlepetal - She-cat with white fawn brindled fur, covered with patches and speckles of dark fawn

 **Apprentices:** Scarpaw - Big brown tabby tom with amber eyes, has huge scar on chest

 **Queens:** Yarrowtail - Mottled gray and brown she-cat with green eyes and a nicked ear (Mother of Sagekit, Rubblekit and Silverkit)

Tinyfern - White she-cat with green eyes

Shadewing - Dark gray tabby she-cat with golden eyes (Mother of Dovekit and Palekit)

 **Elders:** Tigersnarl - Scarred dark brown tabby tom with dark amber eyes

Brackenheart - Dark brown tabby tom with a graying muzzle and amber eyes

Fogsight - Silvery gray she-cat, eyes previously torn out

/

 **LochClan**

 **Leader:** Rainstar - Pale, tortoiseshell she-cat with darker flecks and golden eyes

 **Deputy:** Leafheart - Dark ginger tabby with intelligent green eyes

 **Medicine Cat:** Meadowfall - Thin, silver-black tortie with teal colored eyes

 **Warriors:** Batwhisker - Black she-cat with white paws and belly. Has yellow-green eyes

Rowancloud - Dark ginger tabby tom with green eyes

Eagleflight - Large black and white tom with bright yellow eyes

Junglepelt - Gray tom with white paws

Shadowtail - Big, dark gray tom with a rounded face and plumy tail

Silverfeather - Silver tabby she-cat with a white paw and striking blue eyes

Swiftwind - Black she-cat

Blackfang - Big ruffle-furred black tom with matted fur

Ryetooth - Skinny pale ginger tom with bristly fur

Driftfeather - Fluffy tabby she-cat with pale green eyes

Moonbreeze - Pretty, slender gray she-cat with light blue eyes

Blacktail - Patched black and white tom

Hawkclaw - Fierce, handsome golden-ginger tom

 **Apprentices:** Turtlepaw - Black she-cat with green eyes

Crowpaw - Black tom with white paws and green eyes

Sorrelpaw - Mostly ginger tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws and yellow-green eyes

 **Queens:** Aromatail - bluish gray and scarlet tortoiseshell she-cat (Mother of Canarykit, Dazzlekit and Blossomkit)

 **Elders:** Blackflower - Scarred black she-cat with yellow eyes

Growthfeather: Longhaired gray and silver tabby she-cat


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

"Hold still, Redkit."

"Mom! I look fine."

"Just let me fix your fur…"

"Mom, stop it!" protested Redkit as he pulled away from his mother's grooming.

His mother, a spotted ginger she-cat named Rosefang, frowned, "I just want you to look decent when you're in front of the the whole clan today!"

"Mom-"

"You really ought to do this yourself, Redkit."

"Mom! I'm not a kit anymore," he grinned, "I'm practically a warrior."

"Ha!" laughed Leafkit, Redkit's sister, in a snarky mew. She was on her back, playing with a piece of vine.

"Why don't you spend all morning working on _her_ fur?" whined Redkit.

"Because Leafkit actually grooms herself, like a big-kit. You know, I'm not going to be here to groom you when you're an apprentice," snapped Rosefang.

"Thank goodness."

Rosefang was about to reprimand her son, when she realized that two other cats had entered the nursery.

"Brindlewillow! Spicefur! Come to see the soon-to-be apprentices?" she meowed.

"Of course. It's a big day for them," said Brindlewillow.

"They'll both make fine apprentices," added Spicefur.

Brindlewillow beamed, "Remember when they were only newborns?"

"It seems like only yesterday."

"Redkit had the biggest, most adorable eyes," meowed Brindlewillow.

Rosefang smiled in nostalgia, "Yes. It all went by so fast. Remember Redkit's sneeze? It was the cutest thing. He would sneeze, and then he would fall backwards, and then…"

"Mom! You're embarrassing me," muttered Redkit

The queens ignored him, "Rosefang, Redkit already looks so much like you," meowed Brindlewillow

"And Leafkit, well, I see her father in her everyday."

"May he hunt with StarClan."

Rosefang and the she-cats looked down for a moment, remembering her deceased mate, Redkit and Leafkit's father.

Leafkit rested her head on Rosefang's tail, "Mom? When's the apprentice ceremony gonna be?"

"Well, I heard Spottedstar is preparing the ceremony as we speak."

Leafkit lifted her head, "Really? Right now? Yay! Come on, Redkit! Let's go!"

Leafkit and Redkit scurried from the nursery, into the middle of camp.

"Wait for me!"

The young cats shivered as the cold winter-air settled in.

The MistClan camp was a shallow ravine in between two steep hills. The walls were lined with grass, and the ground was covered with snow. The trees above shaded camp. It was narrow, yet large and cozy enough for the MistClan cats. It was like a hill-ravine. Deeper within, there were two large, rounded areas, clearings. The one deeper within the ravine, (The back one) is where clan meetings were held.

Leafpaw scratched her ear with her back paw.

"I'm bored. Do you want to play a game before the ceremony?" asked Leafkit.

Redkit huffed, "Naw. We're apprentices, now."

"Heh. No we're not."

Redkit paused, "Fine," then without warning, he playfully pounced at his sister.

The littermates scuffled in the snow for a minute.

"I'm gonna beat you!"

"No you're… no you're not!" growled Redkit, realizing that his sister was standing on him.

"Get off my ear!" he yowled, before he rolled upright.

Leafkit leapt off of him, "Ok. But I still won."

"Right."

They laughed, sprawling themselves across the frozen snowy ground. The sun leaked through the bare branches, splotching the ground in shadow. They both sighed, listening to the chirping winter birds.

"Soo, who do you think your mentor will be?" asked Leafkit.

Redkit thought for a second. There certainly were a lot of qualified warriors in MistClan.

His dream was to one day be leader. So Redkit hoped whoever his mentor was actually cared about him becoming a warrior. He wanted to make sure that he would even be good enough to mentor his own apprentice by the time he was a warrior. And, he also didn't want a mean mentor.

"I dunno. Maybe Smokeclaw. He's really cool," replied Redkit.

Leafkit rolled her eyes, "Really? That's all you care about? Don't you want a mentor with experience? Patience? Skill?"

"You don't think Smokeclaw's patient or skilled?"

"No, no. But I just hope that either Kestrelbreeze or Cloudstream is my mentor, because I hear they're the best hunters in MistClan."

Russetear, an elderly ginger tom limped up from behind them, "Hoping for the most popular warriors to be your mentors? Typical of the young cats. If you ask me, the oldest souls always make the best teachers."

Leafpaw shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so. But old cats are...old. Don't old cats have to worry about throwing out their backs, or their aching joints?"

Redpaw thought the elder would be mad at her, but he just laughed.

"Haw haw, I suppose you have a point. Us old fellers have trouble keepin' up with the young ones," Russetear rasped, "But young warriors can be reckless."

Redkit was nervous. If he was going to be a super awesome warrior, mentor an apprentice, become deputy, and then the best leader ever, he would need a strong mentor to teach him. Not some bumbling old tomcat.

A harsh breeze drifted through camp, swaying the frosty branches above. It may have been cold, but it was a beautiful morning, perfect for an apprentice ceremony.

Finally, a slender, tortoiseshell she-cat came out from her den. Spottedstar. With a graceful leap, she jumped onto a rock sticking out of the camp wall. Redkit secretly thought the leader was beautiful. Her sleek black tail twitched as cats began to gather in the middle of camp.

"Everyone old enough to leave camp, gather in camp circle for a clan meeting!" she yowled.

"I can't believe this is happening!" Leafkit whispered into Redkit's ear.

" _Shut up_ , it's starting-"

With that, cats began to emerge from their dens. As they approached the wide clearing and settled down, they formed a half-circle around the to-be apprentices. Warriors, queens, and elders were all striding from their conversations to watch the ceremony. Rosefang watched from the front row.

Right before Spottedstar opened her mouth to speak, Rosefang ran up to Redkit and gave him one last quick lick on the head, to fix his messy fur.

"Mom! Quit it!" he hissed.

Leafkit and few others snickered.

"Alright. Good morning, everyone!"

The crowd murmured their greetings.

"StarClan has blessed us all with a morning, a beautiful morning for cold heart of winter. I know they'll be willing to bless our two, brand-new apprentices, even in the cruelest of seasons."

The cats cheered with approval.

"First, Redkit! Firstborn son of Tigerpelt and Rosefang, please step forward."

Redkit took a tiny paw-step forward.

"A little more."

Red stepped forward, hearing some chuckles from the crowd. He lowered his ears in embarrassment.

"You have come of apprenticeship age. From this day forward, you shall be known as Redpaw."

"Redpaw! Redpaw! Redpaw!" cheered MistClan.

Spottedstar went on, "Your mentor will be, Graydust."

Redpaw's heart immediately sunk. _Graydust?_ Of all the cats! Graydust was old, and stern, and grumpy… why in the world did Spottedstar want Graydust to be his mentor?

Redpaw watched in dismay as the gray and white tom strode through the snow, up to him. His ears were flattened, and he had on that grim smile he rarely wore. He tired to stand right next to Redpaw, but he couldn't help but lean away. His breath smelled of old squirrel.

"Graydust, we all know and acknowledge that you carry seasons of experience and wisdom. I know you will be a good mentor, as you have before, and will pass on these valuable qualities to your new apprentice."

Redpaw wished he could disappear. Now he had to touch noses with this fleabag. He held his breath when they had to.

Once they backed away from each other, the clan erupted into more cheering. Redpaw just wished he could forget what the old tom looked and smelled like up close.

"And finally, Leafkit."

Leafkit bounced a little when she heard her name.

"Firstborn daughter of Tigerpelt and Rosefang, please step forward. You too, have come of apprenticeship age. From this moment on, you shall be known as Leafpaw."

"Leafpaw! Leafpaw! Leafpaw!"

"Your mentor will be Swiftstem."

A ginger and white tom emerged from the crowd. He flicked his ears and looked up to his leader.

"You are one of my most carefree, spirited and loyal warriors, yet are always hardworking and focused when you clan needs you to be. I know Leafpaw will learn much from you."

Swiftstem and Leafpaw touched noses staring into each other's eyes. They clearly actually wanted to be mentor and apprentice.

The cats of MistClan burst into one last round of cheers and applause, then made way for the apprentices to greet their family.

Rosefang came up to them first, "Oh, your father would be so proud. I just love you two soo much!" she sniffed.

"Are you seriously crying, mom?"

"No, of course not!" she sniffed one more time, "So, Graydust and Swiftstem, eh? Pretty good mentors, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah!" exclaimed Leafpaw, "I mean, Swiftstem is, probably one of the best hunters and fighters in the clan."

"Well, thanks!" meowed the deep voice of Swiftstem, "I am looking very forward to being a mentor."

Redpaw didn't want to think that he was feeling jealous of his sister. But he dismayed at the idea of being old Graydust's apprentice until he became a warrior.

There was a hushed silence as Graydust walked up behind Redpaw

"Greetings, Redpaw," said Graydust. His voice almost sounded like a growl.

Redpaw jumped, "Um, hi," his voice came out squeakier than he intended.

A moment of awkward silence passed, before Graydust spoke, "We begin at dawn, tomorrow."

With that, Graydust turned to join a hunting patrol.

"So, Leafpaw," meowed Swiftstem, breaking the silence, "I want to know, what things are you really good at, and what do you think will be a challenge for you?"

Of course, Leafpaw began blabbing and rambling away.

Redpaw turned and walked away to let Leafpaw get to know her new mentor. How was he supposed to learn about things like strength, and bravery with Graydust as a mentor?

Redpaw sighed. He decided he might as well make their nests in the new apprentice den. Leafpaw clearly wasn't going to help. Before entering, Redpaw scanned the camp one last time.

Stoneflower, the deputy, was organizing hunting patrols.

Rosefang and her friends were gossiping away, probably about him.

Several cats in camp circle were listening to a cocky tom named Hatchnose brag about how fast he could wolf down a squirrel.

But his gaze came to a rest on Swiftstem, who was taking the time to get to know Leafpaw.

 _I shouldn't be too upset about this. There has to be more to becoming a warrior than their mentor, right? I'm not going to be jealous of Leafpaw._

But in reality, Redpaw was feeling as jealous as they came.

Redpaw pulled a sheet of moss over the nest, finishing. He stepped outside, and blinked wildly as the bright, mid-day light reflected off the snow.

Leafpaw was talking to Rosefang and the other queens, and most of the warriors seemed to be out on patrols.

When it looked like she was done, Redpaw walked up to Leafpaw.

"So, I guess you get Swiftstem, then," he mewed.

"I can't believe we're apprentices!"

Redpaw sighed. Leafpaw probably wouldn't care who her mentor was, as long as her named ended with "paw". She was just happy to be an apprentice.

"Well, I just...oof!" Redpaw was interrupted as a kit launched himself into his back.

"You didn't hear me coming, did you!" boasted the tiny golden-and-white kit.

Redpaw growled playfully. He flipped over and pinned the little tom down into the snow. The kit withered.

"Don't be so rough with Lionkit, Redpaw," said Leafpaw.

The kit gasped, "You guys are apprentices now?"

They nodded.

A ginger and white she-kit, Amberkit, tugged on Leafpaw's ear, "Do you know any battle moves yet?"

"Can you show us?" exclaimed Lionkit.

Redpaw rolled his eyes, "Mouse-brain, we were literally just apprenticed."

Lionkit frowned, sticking out his chin all brave, "My mom says mouse-brain's not a nice word!"

Redpaw opened his mouth to say something, but Leafpaw put her tail on his shoulder, "Why don't we play a game? Today's really the last day we really can live and act like kits."

Amberkit's eyes lit up, "I know! Let's play secret-spy mission!"

Amberkit and Lionkit tumbled away, and Leafpaw bounded after them. But Redpaw just slumped behind them.

Suddenly, sharp pain grappled in Redpaw's chest. Gasping in shock, he stumbled into the ground, quickly falling unconscious.


	4. Chapter 3

Leafpaw brushed Redpaw's face with her tail.

Redpaw groaned.

"Wake up, Redpaw!"

"Ugh. Too early, Leafpaw."

"Come on. You missed the celebration last night because you fell asleep so early."

Pain ached in Redpaw's chest again. He curled, and moaned.

"Leafpaw's face fell, "Oh. The chest pains are coming back, aren't they?"

Redpaw shakily brought himself to his paws.

Ever since Redpaw was merely a moon old, he would feel tight, painful clenches and aches in his chest. It would get really bad when he was young. When he was three moons old, Rosefang had him see the Barksky because of it. He had no answer. Redpaw's pains had always been a mystery, but they were generally getting less painful and frequent as he got older. For the most part.

"Redpaw?"

"It's...it's fine," Redpaw stuttered as he stretched. Slowly the pain eased as he stood up.

Leafpaw rolled her eyes, "You're ok. Besides, it's our first day of being apprentices!"

Redpaw's ears pricked with anticipation. Sure, Graydust hadn't been his first choice of a mentor, but he would just have to make the best of it.

The two of them walked outside together. Redpaw shivered as the dry, frosty air hit his nose. It was a a lot colder than the morning yesterday. Clouds draped the sky, and the snow was so deep it came up to Leafpaw's shoulders. It was snowing ever so lightly, the snowflakes like drifting tufts of white fur.

"Look!" mewed Leafpaw in glee, prancing and rolling in the snow, "It's so deep! And _fluffy_!"

The MistClan camp had treetop coverage, and the snow built up on the branches. So occasionally bundles snow would fall into camp.

Mothberry, a gray and white elder, strolled outside, gently waving her tail. When she leaned down to stretch, snow tumbled from the branches, right above where she was standing. It landed on her with a _PPPPHHHH._

Redpaw, Leafpaw, and the elder Cedarheart purred with amusement. Russetear stumbled over laughing.

Mothberry blew the snow out of her face, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Only a little old she-cat getting dumped on with snow."

"Oh lighten up, you ol' badger. These 'paws will find anything funny," rasped Russetear.

Cedarheart chuckled, "Even in the cold of leaf-bare, StarClan still has its humor."

"Heh heh. Say, have you two seen Swiftstem or Graydust?" asked Leafpaw. Redpaw could see her frosty breath in the air from the cold.

"They joined a hunting patrol at dawn when you two youngsters slept in," replied Cedarheart. Redpaw gazed over the treeline, realizing it was light enough to be past sunrise. The cloudy sky made it seem so much darker.

Russetear leaned in to them, "If I were you, Redpaw, I'd wake up on time with Graydust as a mentor. He may go easy on you since it's your first day, but even I'd never want to be on his bad side early in the morning."

Redpaw kind of felt bad about sleeping in. But before he could reply, a patrol arrived through the narrow camp opening (which was a space between two hills, and camp was where it hollowed out) Graydust and Swiftstem were among them.

Redpaw and Leadpaw's mouths watered at the sight of the fresh-kill being distributed. The went to the entrance to grab some.

"Not for you, Redpaw," meowed Graydust in a stern rough voice, "From now on, you will wake up on time, when I tell you to. Should you be late to training, you'll regret it. Do you understand?"

Graydust stared directly into Redpaw's eyes, but Redpaw found it hard to maintain eye contact with his stern gaze.

"Yes… sir," mumbled Redpaw.

Leafpaw snickered, " _Really? 'Sir?'"_ she laughed under her breath.

"That goes for you too, Leafpaw," said Swiftstem. But the tall tom said it with a hint of teasing. He was still beaming.

"I know," said Leafpaw. She looked down, still smiling.

"It's alright, though. I had to be woken up on my first day. And I'm sure old Graydust here slept in on his first day, too," said Swiftstem, teasingly.

MistClan's camp was like a ravine, about nine or ten feet deep. There was a narrow passage at the front, and after that there were two tree-covered clearings. The back one was where Spottedstar held meetings from the ledges. The clearing between that one and the entrance passage was slightly smaller, with several tree stumps jutting out from the sides.

Sitting on one of these stumps was the muscular frame of Stoneflower, MistClan's deputy.

"You two taking your apprentices out?"

"Yep. We're showing them the territory," siad Swiftstem.

She frowned, "It's pretty blustery out there. You sure they can handle it?"

"Yes, they'll be fine. We're just showing them the borders," said Swiftstem.

As they entered the "passage," Redpaw's heart lurched with excitement. He had never been outside of camp before.

"So what are we going to see first?" asked Leafpaw.

"We're going…" Swiftstem started. He realized group of cats were coming in.

"Adderfoot? Are you leading the patrol?"

Now's a good time to establish that Adderfoot and Redpaw weren't exactly…best of friends.

When Redpaw was a kit, Adderfoot, then Adderpaw, played tricks on Redkit and oftentimes made fun of him. Once, he told Redkit there was a dead raccoon at the top of camp, above the nursry, and tricked him into climbing camp wall to find it. Redkit got stuck halfway up, and Stoneflower had to rescue him. Later, he had a long lecture conversation with Stoneflower and Rosefang about "common sense."

Another time, to get back at him, Redkit slipped a pawful of spiders into Adderpaw's nest. One could guess how that ended.

The teasing got more and more extreme, and turned into hatred. Now, Adderfoot and Redpaw were true rivals.

Upon Swiftstem's question, Adderfoot smirked and raised his head. His was thin, tall, and according to Redpaw, had ears shaped like the devil's, "Why, yes I am. We just patrolled the LochClan border. Chased a fox and her brood into the forest. Didn't even stand its ground," The two other cats on Adderfoot's patrol narrowed their eyes and nodded approvingly with pride.

Swiftstem nodded, "Nice work. Go on and report to Stoneflower."

Adderfoot and his patrol bounded through the snow, into the hill-ravine.

" _Beat that, mouseheart_ ," hissed the cream tom as he passed Redpaw. Redpaw glared back.

 _Foxheart_ , thought Redpaw.

"Let's be on," grumbled Graydust.

The four of them continued on, over crisp snow-covered hills. The further they went, the darker the sky seemed to become. A snowstorm was coming.

"Um, should we be worried about being snowed on?" winced Redpaw.

"Warriors aren't swayed by snow winds," said Graydust, "We'll keep going, whether you can withstand it or not is not my concern."

 _Yes, it is,_ thought Redpaw, scowling, _You are my mentor. That's exactly what your concern is!_

But he kept his mouth shut.

As they progressed over the fields and hills, Swiftstem began to take the lead. He gazed up at the snow-filled clouds with wonder.

"So, just wondering, out of curiosity, what do you two apprentices imagine your warrior life to be like? What do you plan to do as warriors?"

Leafpaw had to think really hard to think of her answer, but Redpaw knew what his was right off the bat.

"I want to be leader!" he blurted out.

Everyone stopped. The two mentors stared at him for a second, until Swiftstem smiled and chuckled, "Ah, the dream of every apprentice. Leader. I remember me and my litter mates playing leader when we were young cats like you."

Redpaw frowned, and tilted his head, "You make it sound like it's a stupid kit's dream."

"Well," growled Graydust, "Sorry for ruining your childhood, but little every big-headed apprentice wants to be the leader. Your chances of becoming deputy alone are miniscule…"

Redpaw liked Graydust less and less each time he spoke.

Leafpaw eyed her brother pitifully, "Well, I'd want to specialize in hunting. And then, I'll marry the handsomest tom in MistClan, and then, we'll have kits, two she-cats and a tom, and then, they'll have kits…"

"Handsomest isn't a word…" mumbled Redpaw under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"I don't think it's a bad thing to have big dreams, but it is true that most warriors compete for the the spot of deputy," meowed Swiftstem.

The majority of MistClan's territory is made up of hilly open fields. Lots of open space. Scattered through their territory was patches of open forests. Some parts were dominated by twolegs. Others felt like the bitter wilderness. The four of them saw many notable locations in their territory along the way. While they cut through a patch of forest, they happened upon a twoleg nest. The apprentices were bewildered. Swiftstem explained that there were twoleg nests here and there in the forests.

In the more open parts of MistClan, they passed over several open fields covered in a fresh layer of snow. They passed over fields, and through two leg farms. The two legs and their dogs didn't seem to mind the passing cats. Redpaw though the dogs were strange. They were big, and clumsy, and acted like kits.

After many minutes of treading through the snow, they came to the edge of a forest, with shorter trees and thick undergrowth. The whole thing seemed to be sealed with snow and ice.

"That," said Swiftstem, "Is LochClan. This is the border."

Leafpaw looked confused, "They live in _that_ forest? I mean, some parts of our territory is forest, but it doesn't have that much undergrowth! How do they walk through it?"

"StarClan knows. I couldn't bare getting bits of twigs thorns and leaves just walking through my territory!" huffed Swiftstem.

Down the darkening forest line, they continued along the LochClan border.

"Who's the leader of LochClan?" asked Redpaw

Graydust raised an eyebrow.

Leafpaw tilted her head, "Isn't it Rainstar?"

Swiftstem nodded, "Yep. 'Fairest of them all' Hatchnose would say. She's a fine leader."

"Not as fine as Spottedstar," gruffed Graydust solemnly.

"I heard Rainstar's really strict," said Leafpaw.

"I wouldn't say that. But you should watch her keep order to her clan at a gathering. Even the most absentminded squirrel listens when she's angry."

Redpaw thought for a second, "What's LochClan like?"

"Well, as you can see, they navigate the undergrowth," explained Swiftstem, "They have the most herbs, the most prey…"

"Brookshadow told me they take from twolegs!" said Leafpaw.

Redpaw rolled his eyes. Leafpaw always believed anything Brookshadow said. She'd believe Brookshadow if she told her the sun wouldn't rise tomorrow.

"Foolish rumors," said Graydust.

"It's true, LochClan cats live near some twoleg towns. But there's no need to just jump to conclusions."

"Before, I meant, what are the LochClan cats like?" asked Redpaw.

Graydust frowned suspiciously, "And why would you want to know that?"

"No no, he's got every right to know how his rival clan thinks," Swiftstem turned to Redpaw, "To put it simply, LochClan is, well, the 'nice' ones. I mean, they care about us just as little as any clan does, but they fear conflict. Why, I can't remember the last time they've had a battle with…anyone."

"Surely that can't be a bad thing?"

"Not for us. But I'll tell you, we'd never let other clans walk all over us like LochClan does. Sure, Rainstar would never hand over territory. But I bet that clan would be less willing to fight for it than the others,"

"What do they eat when the lake freezes over?" asked Redpaw

"Who cares? They always seem to come out every winter plump and glossy-coated," scoffed Graydust.

For a little while, they kept a good pace along the LochClan border. The snow on the hills was stiff enough for the cats to walk on top of the snow without leaving tracks. They sky was still dark. The winds were still picking up. But the snowstorm hadn't started.

After lots of walking, and walking, and more patrolling, it became increasingly difficult for the apprentices as they traveled over hilly landscapes against the wind.

After just a few minutes, Redpaw was sweating. At the same time, his pads hurt from the cold. He was having trouble keeping up.

"Come on, Redpaw. Surely for the future leader, climbing some hills should be no problem," said Graydust.

Redpaw frowned, and could've swore Graydust was mocking him.

"Why-why is it so hilly here?" asked Leafpaw, lightly panting, "This is so hard!"

"We're getting closer to the hills, where the CloudClan border is. You think this is bad? You should see some of the hills they have to scale."

"Why are they called CloudClan?"

"Because the hills they live in are so high that clouds pass through their territory," replied Swiftstem.

Leafpaw's eyes lit up, "Ooh! What do you think it's like to walk through a cloud?"

"Probably like, suffocation," said Redpaw sarcastically.

"Well, it does something to them," mewed Swiftstem, "CloudClan cats can be the worst."

"Worse than DarkClan?" grumbled Graydust.

"I don't know. But just talk to one of them, trust me. They'll have you believe they're gifts from StarClan," the ginger and white tom hauled himself to the top of a hill, "There. Come up here! It's the border."

Side by side, Leafpaw and Redpaw bounded through the snow to Swiftstem and Graydust's side, "I give you, CloudClan."

Over the view of the hill lie a brilliant view of a hilly landscape. Hills away, the heights and slopes of the hills grew taller. Some hills were so big they looked like mountains, covered in snow.

"Whoa," breathed Redpaw, exhaling frosty breath.

"Is this the border?" asked Leafpaw.

"It sure is."

As they continued walking along the CloudClan border, Redpaw couldn't help but look up at the towering hills, and the vastness of them.

Leafpaw bounded beside her mentor, "Are we going to see any other borders?"

"No. MistClan only borders LochClan and CloudClan."

Leafpaw looked down, "Oh."

Redpaw walked up beside her, "Aren't there two other clans?"

"Indeed. Do you know what they're called?" asked Graydust.

"Um...there's…" he looked at Swifftstem for help.

"You will look at me when you're talking to me," snapped Graydust.

Redpaw looked at him, eyes flickering away nervously, "Um, isn't there…BlazeClan?"

"That's right," meowed Swiftstem. His large muscles flexed as he walked through the snow.

"And DarkClan's the last one," finished Leafpaw.

A great burst of sharp winds cut her off, and bit at their noses. Snow was sweeping down, skidding the surface of the white hills.

"We ought to get back," said Swiftstem. Graydust nodded.

Quicker than before, despite the wind, they made their way back to small hills that made their camp. The trek was much longer than Redpaw thought.

"How much longer?"

"Quit your whining! You've asked that three times now."

Redpaw could feel clumps of snow clinging to the fur on his paws. He couldn't feel his pads anymore.

Just as the blizzard was picking up, the four of them arrived back at camp entrance.

Redpaw's nose twitched as he shivered.

Spottedstar looked down at them as they entered. Her eyes glowed, "Well! Someone had a chilly first patrol!"

Redpaw forced a smile.

"Can we have something to eat now?" asked Leafpaw.

"Go ahead," replied Swiftstem.

Still shaking a little, Leafpaw and Redpaw raced further inside camp, where the prey was stored. Redpaw's stomach rumbled.

But, all that was left was a pair of blackbirds and a shriveled mouse.

"Dips on a bird!" hollered Leafpaw. Redpaw rolled his eyes and shook his head, seeing as there was no one else was around. But right before he took his share, another pair of jaws snatched the other blackbird. To his dismay, it was Adderfoot.

Upon seeing the displeasure on Redpaw's face, Adderfoot smirked. He dropped the bird, "Heh. Think just because you're a brand-new apprentice you're oh-so special? Here, take your prize," he smiled mockingly, "For leaving camp for the first time! Congrats! I'm sure your parents are very proud."

"Ugh! What is your problem with me? Are you so insecure and sad that you have to prove how much better than me you are?"

Adderfoot tilted his head, "That's a lot coming from a _kit._ "

Redpaw clawed the bird, kicking it away, "I am _not_ a kit! I could take you anyday!"

"Whoa, a bit eager, are we? Mouse-brained enough to insult me to my face?"

Redpaw backed down a little bit, and realized that Adderfoot was still at least a head taller than him. The cream tom may have been scrawny, thin tom. But Redpaw was scrawnier.

"Ha, ha!"

Redpaw head whirled around to see Brookshadow, Adderfoot's sister. She was a lean, jet-black she-cat.

"Ok, I'm sorry Redpaw, it's just hilarious to watch you stand up to Adderfoot. it's like watching a squirrel taking on a fox. I'm sorry," but Redpaw knew she wasn't sorry, as she said it laughing.

Why did Brookshadow and Adderfoot think so little of him? He'd show them.

Redpaw scowled, then turned to face a smirking Adderfoot, "You don't scare me. You're just a big bully, Adderfoot. Now get out of my _way_!"

Redpaw lunged at Adderfoot, claws unsheathed. Adderfoot merely stepped out of the way.

As Redpaw landed in the numbing snow, Adderfoot looked down at him.

"Pathetic. Your father could do better than that. And that really says something."

For a moment, everything paused, and they knew something bad would follow.

"You guys, stop it!" hissed Leafpaw, jumping between Redpaw and Adderfoot, "You're fighting over nothing!"

Now it was Leafpaw's turn to interfere. However, if Adderfoot thought nothing of Redpaw, he wouldn't think much better of Leafpaw.

Adderfoot just blankly stared at her. Redpaw stormed away.

 _I hate him,_ he hissed at himself, _I hate him, and Brookshadow too._

Leafpaw joined Redpaw at his side.

And of course, right at that moment, ol' Stoneflower came to investigate. Her brow furrowed at the sight of the blackbird.

"Who did this? This is wasted food, now," she growled.

Just as Leafpaw and Redpaw disappeared into the apprentice den, they could hear Adderfoot rambling away in his innocent voice, "Oh, don't worry about it. it was Redpaw, but don't blame him, he was just throwing a tantrum-"

Redpaw flattened his ears to shut him out.

"Don't mind him, Redpaw. He only wins if he gets in your head, you know," said Leafpaw.

Redpaw sighed. He crawled into his brand-new apprentice nest.

 _She's right,_ he thought woefully,

 _he wins._


	5. Chapter 4

Redpaw trudged through the snow, as his eyelids drooped.

It was a bright winter twilight. The brilliant dawn sky glowed, like it always did before the sunrise. Frosty mist hovered above the snow. There was always mist. MistClan itself was named for always being thick with dew, and mist.

Redpaw had been an apprentice for nearly a quarter-moon, and had already learned so much. He and Leafpaw prided themselves in learning how to stalk, pounce, and a couple of basic battle moves.

This morning, Graydust had woken Redpaw early for training. He was trailing behind his mentor, through a field.

"Why did we have to wake up so early?" asked Redpaw groggily.

Graydust stopped abruptly, stood tall and stared down at Redpaw.

"Because, we train when I want you to train," he growled.

"Good luck getting Swiftstem and Leafpaw to get out this early."

Graydust paused. For a moment, all that could be heard was the faint, creepy sound of the whooing wind over the hills. Then, he thought for a moment, before meeting Redpaw's gaze, "Actually, I've been meaning to tell you that, as of yesterday, we're not going to train with Swiftstem and Leafpaw anymore."

Redpaw's heart dropped with disappointment. No more training with Swiftstem? Great. Now all he had to listen to was Graydust. Swiftstem was fun, and encouraging. All Graydust seemed to do was stare, bark at him every once in awhile.

Redpaw lifted his chin, "You can't do that. Stoneflower can put us on the same patrols."

"I said from now on we're having _private_ training. Your sister and Swiftstem have proven to only be a distraction for your personal improvment. Swiftstem isn't going to be one of your mentors, just because he trains your sister," he opened his eyes, "Now. To business. Swiftstem and I have gone over the basics. But memorizing basics get you nowhere in the middle of a battlefield. Swiftstem doesn't…always understand that," he stood up and walked away, keeping an eye on Redpaw, "First, jump into your battle position."

Redpaw hunched his shoulders and widened his stance.

Without warning, Graydust turned and lashed a blow into his flank. Redpaw stumbled.

"Hey! You could've rolled my paw!" he protested.

"Hinge your back legs. You're severely unbalanced. Keep your head down."

Redpaw gritted his teeth, but he obeyed his mentor.

"Good."  
He walked around him, before he faced him.

"Always be ready."

Graydust swiftly swiped his paw across Redpaw's face. Started, he stumbled backwards again.

Graydust sighed angrilly, "Do you learn? Pay attention!"

Redpaw's cheek still felt sore from the blow. He stared at his paws, unsure of how to answer.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get back into position!"

The ginger apprentice tensely squared his shoulders.

Graydust's tone softened, not nicely, but in an unnerving kind of way, "Now, should some crazy outside warrior approach, and attack, what would you do? Stand there like a bewildered doe?"

Redpaw shook his head.

"Then what would you do? Logically?"

"Um…defend myself?"

"Obviously. Let's try again. Hold your position. Stay on your toes."

Graydust only sat there, glaring at him. With every second passing, Redpaw became more and more tense, and his limbs started to shake.

Once again, without any warning, the mentor attacked. He aimed a low blow, towards Redpaw's chest. This time, Redpaw attempted to deflect the blow against him with his paws. Predicting the countermove, Graydust pulled back his front blow and pounced into Redpaw's flank. Redpaw toppled over. He held him pinned in the snow.

"Use your head," hissed Graydust, "What did I just tell you?"  
"Uh, to stay on my toes?" Redpaw's head was still being pinned against the frost. It stung his ears, and being pressed against the ice gave him chills up his spine.

"I said you were unbalanced. In any lock battle, no matter the situation, the cat who loses balance first never gets the upper paw. And the cat who gets the upper paw is more likely to win."

Redpaw grunted under the force in which Graydust held him down.

"Balance, balance, balance. Clearly something we'll have to work on. However, the one who starts with the advantage doesn't necessarily win the fight."

"How do you know?" his intended snarl came out as a whisper. Graydust's weight was putting too much pressure on his chest.

He tilted his head, "You tell me. You're the one about to be killed by a rogue you're locked in battle with."

Redpaw squirmed, but it was no use. A subtle tang of pain swelled in his chest. It was happening again!

His face turned serious, "Get off me," he wheezed between bared teeth.

"Pleading won't save you in a battlefield."

Redpaw began growling. The pain was getting worse, as if something sharp was moving inside of him. His anger turned to fear.

"Ok. Ok. Ok! You win! Let me up! Please!" he winced.

At first he did nothing. Graydust's stare didn't move. His heart thumped with panic, "If you insist," he released his apprentice.

Redpaw rolled from his side to his belly, and coughed. He agonized in the pain. But finally, it started to melt away.

Suddenly, he realized how stupid he must've looked. Graydust had pinned him down as a countermove, and Redpaw had acted as if the life were being squeezed out of him.

His mentor raised an eyebrow.

Redpaw lowered his head in embarrassment, "Sorry, I…I, um,"

Graydust breathed in slowly, closing his eyes.

"You're more naive than I expected. Let me tell you right now, in training, in fights, in battles, cats will do worse to prove their victory than pinning. You see these?" he lifted a paw, unsheathed, "These are called _claws_ ," he remarked sarcastically, "Warriors _use_ their claws and teeth in battle, Redpaw," he started pacing in front of him, "You're training for combat situations. Wake up. You need to understand the reality of battle."

Redpaw looked away. As always, he didn't know how to respond.

"Ok. We're going to try this again, and you're going to keep at it until mid-morning. From this moment on today, reality will be the teacher. Figure out what you're doing wrong from your misteps, no matter how many there are," he spat.

And it was.

At first, it was painfully repetitive. Graydust would have him do one thing, like a twist blow. Redpaw would get it wrong, and Graydust would make him run up and down the valley. But when Redpaw finally got it right, he wouldn't praise, or smile, or even give a simple nod of approval! He would just bark another 'Again!' or, 'Run down the valley and back! Full speed!'

Every time Redpaw forgot to do something, like to stay on his toes, or to make a countermove a certain way, Graydust would make him sprint around the entire valley. Soon, the 'agains' and frustrating commands were feeling more draining than ever. Then, after an hour of perfecting a move, once Redpaw maneuvered a move flawlessly, Graydust would have him test it against him.

As the training progressed, Redpaw felt more and more overwhelmed. The strategies and moves Graydust used ceased to become any less complicated.

And finally, _finally,_ when the sun rose above the horizon, they had finished their very first battle training session.

Redpaw hobbled into camp. He was even more drained, and drenched with sweat. Bits of ice and snow hung from his face and paws. He looked like an ice rag.

A beefy, pale-pelted tom bumped into Redpaw on his way in, "Heh heh, Looking good, Redpaw. How's that snow feeling?" he remarked.

Redpaw scowled. Hatchnose. Redpaw had never been found of that tom. Hatchnose was a strong warrior, could be arrogant, obnoxious, and downright rude.

As Redpaw settled down among some other MistClan cats for warmth, a hunting patrol arrived.

Leafpaw skipped over to her brother.

"'Morning, Redpaw. How was your…" her eyes widened when she saw him.

"Oh. Wow. I take it the battle training was…well…"

"Brutal?"

"Well, yeah! Redpaw, you look like a badger sat on you!"

"A badger _did_ sit on me," growled Redpaw, glaring at his mentor,

"Hehe, yeah. You look pretty beaten up, tough guy," she pawed his shoulder, playfully. Right where his bruise was.

"Oouch, that actually hurt!"  
Leafpaw laughed.

"Oh no, you wouldn't believe it! I'm telling you, Graydust has gone mad. He pretty much just spent the last three hours beating me up in the freezing cold. All I got out of it was a sore shoulder and about a dozen bruises."

"You'll figure it out," mewed Leafpaw, "They _do_ say Graydust is one of the best mentors."

"Who's ' _they'?_ "  
"I don't know, I heard it once," she stretched out. Her eyes lit up, "Oh, hey, I brought you something!"

"Don't tell me it's another heart-shaped leaf from mom again."

"Nope! Thank goodness…" Leafpaw leapt off the hunting patrol, and trotted back with a small bird hanging from her jaws, and dropped it, "My very first catch! For you!"

 _Well, at least someone made some progress today,_ thought Redpaw. But, he smiled and slanted his head, "Oh, come on, it's your first catch ever! We'll share it."

They both dug in hungrily without any hesitation.

"So," mumbled Redpaw between mouthfuls, "How'd you catch it?"

"Ok, so I was on a hill, because, well, I wandered off again, and then I heard this weird scratching…"

Redpaw nodded, and murmured the occasional "Mm-hm," but really was only half listening.

He was slightly jealous she got her first catch before he did.

When she was done with her story, they sat in silence, listening to their clanmates gossip and debate. Tonight, they were engaging in a heated argument over the CloudClan

"No, I doubt it."

"Yeah, that's Mousedung!"  
"No, really! Blizzardstar really did die falling down a ravine jumping after an eagle!"

"Ok, really Brookshadow, CloudClan cats may literally have their heads in the clouds, but no one would ever do something _that_ stupid."

By this point, almost everyone in MistClan was huddled in the clearing, sharing prey and tongues. Redpaw and Leafpaw were listening with their ears shoved forward. Everyone loved a good rumor.

"He did it to kill the wretched bird! If he didn't, then I heard it would've eaten an apprentice alive!"

"No way."

"If he did, I'll bet you he did it for his reputation."

"I'll bet he did it to impress that pretty little she-cat Snowstrike!"

"Honestly Brookshadow, where do you get these things? From that CloudClan elder? Milkpelt?"

"No, that tom Spiderfang told me,"

The cats talking to Brookshadow scoffed in unison.

"Ooh, did he now?"

"Yeah, he's from CloudClan too, you know!"

Brookshadow closed her eyes and snottily looked away, "It doesn't matter. It's still probably true."

"No matter what happened, it doesn't change the fact that Blizzardstar's dead," said Stoneflower, instantly killing their conversation. Everyone went silent and looked in her direction.

"You ought to be showing the former leader some respect. Not spreading foolish gossip about how he died," she finished, in her strong voice. no one dared argue with the mighty, broad-shouldered Stoneflower.

"She's right," added Spottedstar, whom was laying down on the meeting stone, "Blizzardstar was a fair and strong leader, and a dear friend of mine. I just hope whoever succeeds him is willing to allow our alliance with CloudClan live on," meowed Spottedstar.

The MistClan cats murmured in agreement.

Barksky crept out from his den, "Just a thought, who _is_ succeeding Blizzardstar?"

Redpaw wondered how long he had been in his den listening.

"I believe it's that 'golden-boy' prince charmin' tom," rasped Mothberry, "Oh, yes. All the elders of CloudClan sure were bragging about him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's been appointed deputy since the last gathering. Oh, he's a handsome one," she purred, "Oh, what's his name again?"

"I believe it's Goldenclaw," said one of the queens.

"He's very heroic, from what I hear," someone else added.

"I heard, that once he jumped-"

"No, stop, Brookshadow! Please, just, stop it with the legends."

"You guys are no fun."

"I don't know about that young tom, Goldenclaw," huffed Russetear, "He's just so young, and inexperienced. If he was appointed deputy, I sure hope Blizzardstar knew what he was doing."

"I think that if Blizzardstar trusted him to be his deputy, then we _should_ be able to trust him," added Barksky, "Blizzardstar's known for choosing deputies that no one expected, and end up becoming great."

"But Goldenclaw's not the only warrior in line for deputy. CloudClan cats like Brightclaw, and Maplewing, and that Rustfur tom are also fine warriors."

As their clanmates continued to talk, and their chatters turned to whispers, Leafpaw and Redpaw had their side conversation.

"Um, Leafpaw?"

"Yeah?"  
"My training session didn't go very well," he paused, "But it wasn't just because Graydust is a jerk."

Leafpaw frowned.

"I know you and mom don't think it's a big deal, but the pain is getting worse, and worse. When we were training, Graydust pinned me down at one point, and the pain became more unbearable than it had ever been."

Leafpaw thought for a moment, "Do you think it'll be serious?"

"I guess! I don't know what to do. And, what if this happens, like, on a patrol, or in the middle of a battle?"

"I…I'm sorry, I don't know," she shook her head, "You should go to Barksky."

They both knew this would be no use. Neither Barksky nor his fiesty apprentice Tigerfall had any idea what condition Redpaw had, or what to do about it.

Next to the apprentice den, the two of them sat in silence.

The wind blew. It _whood_ eerily again, as it drifted over the hillls and through the bare branches over camp. The frost-filled wind started to pick up.

"Redpaw, you seem to be under a lot more stress than you should. You just need to stop worrying about everything."

"How? It's not like I'll just wake up tomorrow and everything will be better."

Leafpaw thought for a second, "I have an idea."

Redpaw sighed, "What? I know that look, I see that glint in your eye, Leafpaw. And no, I don't feel like ruthlessly pranking-"  
"No! Tonight, after the midnight patrol gets back, we should sneak out, and take a look around."

Redpaw shook his head, "Why?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well, I mean, for the next six months we won't really be able to see or wander out of camp without an _escort_. I'm sure no one would care if we went exploring tonight. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Redpaw smiled and nodded.

That night, as the moon peaked out from the night clouds, the littermates readied their plan.

In was another dark, blustery winter night. The cats chosen to go on the midnight patrol were miserable from the wind battering at their pelts.

Leafpaw poked her head out from the apprentice den.

"Are they back yet?"

"Nope!" whispered Leafpaw, coming back inside.

"What's taking them so long? They're usually back now!" Redpaw hissed under his breath.

"Shh! _They're coming!_ "

Indeed, Redpaw and Leafpaw could hear the warriors approaching through camp entrance.

As they got closer, their pawsteps in the crunching snow became louder.

"Well, that was interesting," scoffed one of them.

"Tell me about it! Evidence of intruders! From two different clans! _In one night_!"

Redpaw dug his claws into his nest when he heard the snarky, distinctive voice of Adderfoot.

"Alright, alright everyone," announced Stoneflower warily, "Spottedstar and I will take care of it in the morning. No use waking up the whole clan, Adderfoot. Off to your dens."

"I'm on watch duty," sighed a tom, "Who else is on shift with me?"

Redpaw peaked into the moonlit camp. Stoneflower was heading to her den, before looking over her shoulder at the tom on watch. Her fur was a mess, and looked exhausted.

"Um, Adderfoot! You take the midnight watch with Hatchnose, alright?"

Adderfoot groaned loudly.

The apprentices sat still for a moment, waiting for the last cats of the midnight patrol to return to their dens in hushed voices.

Redpaw peaked out again. Everyone was finally gone.

"Is Graydust still on watch _?"_ whispered Leafpaw.

"No. Hatchnose and Adderfoot are on guard now _."_

Leafpaw crept outside, ducking, careful to stay out of the moonlight. She took a step, before darting behind one of the several rocks near the apprentice den. Redpaw slowly followed her. He was careful not to silhouette himself.

"So, how the heck do you plan on getting past them _?"_ hissed Redpaw

"I'm on it!"

Leafpaw scanned the gathering clearing, trying to come up with a plan. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, as they do. Her ginger ears pricked.

Beckoning with her eyes, she led Redpaw out from the rock, around the edge of the clearing. Just as Hatchnose turned, the apprentices were behind the wall, hiding in the shadow next to the entrance to the middle clearing. Only camp wall shielded them from sight.

"Flatten yourself against the wall," muttered Leafpaw.

As Hatchnose approached to investigate, Redpaw's chest twinged with fear. He could hear his own heartbeat.

Hatchnose stopped in the narrow entryway between the clearings. They could see his bulky shadow in the moonlight, swishing his tail up high and flicking his ears. He strode forward, right past them in the shadow.

" _Now, NOW!_ " said Leafpaw, as she pushed Redpaw into the middle clearing. They swiftly bounded onto the other side of the wall, turned, and ducked out of sight just as Hatchnose looked over his shoulder.

They froze.

Hatchnose shrugged and continued on into the back clearing.

Just as the apprenticed sighed in relief, they realized Adderfoot was standing just fox-lengths away from them with his back turned.

Leafpaw gently touched Redpaw's shoulder with her tail. She looked at the stumps Stoneflower always stood on when she made an announcement.

With shaking limbs, they one by one climbed onto the stumps with care. One step in front of the other, they stepped higher above Adderfoot. The highest one was about two fox-lengths high.

Adderfoot looked over his shoulder, and around him. He didn't think of looking up.

"Good. Now all we have to do is wait until they're both in the back clearing," whispered Redpaw.

But, as soon as Redpaw said this, Adderfoot sat down, stretched, scratched his ear, and yawned. He took and deep breath and sat straight up.

"Or until he falls asleep."

Leafpaw scowled, "Well, I'm not waiting that long!" Without pausing, she grabbed a pebbled lodged in the wall and hurled it over the ravine.

Hatchnose yowled.

Redpaw's mouth dropped.

Adderfoot bounded into the back clearing to see what was wrong.

Once he was out of sight, Redpaw and Leaf scrambled from the stumps, through the entrance, out of camp. The ran and ran, as their chests heaved and never looked back.

Once they were out of sight, they stopped. They looked at each other.

The burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you just did that!"

Leafpaw looked at her paws, still giggling, "I wasn't even trying to hit Hatchnose! I was just trying to distract Adderfoot!"

"I know! What are the odds?"

They struggled for a minute to stop laughing.

The littermates sighed. Redpaw shook his head, "Ok, ok. We should probably actually go now."

"Oh yeah. Right," the snowy winds ruffled their fur.

The apprentices took off through the snow. They ran up hills, through fields, and forests.

"So, where do you want to go? Do you want to see one of those twoleg houses Swiftstem was talking about? Or, maybe, see one of those farm, and scare their dogs?"

"Leafpaw, do you have a death wish or something?"  
"What? It sounds like fun!"

Redpaw thought for a second, "Let's go to the CloudClan border."

"Why?"

"Their territory is so cool! The elders told me that the their camp is in the ruins of an complex, _enormous_ twoleg nest. I forget what Russetear called it, a fort or something."

"Ok, that sounds pretty neat," admitted Leafpaw, "We should go see it ourselves! However, something tells they won't appreciate two apprentices hanging around their border. I mean, Adderfoot _did_ they they found evidence of intruders.

"Like you've ever cared about that."

"True. Let's go!"

They took off through the fields and valleys into the night, against the sharp winds. They climbed hills with it, and ran down against. They drew closer to the CloudClan border.

Sure enough, the towering hills became visible. Then leapt in and out of the snow, up a hill. When they reached the top, a vast sight bestowed them.

"It's just as cool as seeing it the first time," whispered Leafpaw.

"Yeah. It's even creepier at night."

The blurred outlines of the hills, perhaps mountains, were tall and daunting. It made them shiver just thinking about being at those heights in the dark.

Redpaw squinted into the distance. It was hard to make out the peaks and dips, but in the distance, he could see a massive ravine.

"Whoa, look over there!"

"Where?"  
Redpaw pointed his paw at the ravine in the distance, "Look, it's kind of hard to see with the wind and snow, but, there's this really big crack, or something."  
"Oh yeah, I see it. That's a _ravine,_ mousebrain," Leafpaw tilted her head, "It's just so big."  
"And scary. It looks like a bottomless abyss."

Redpaw flicked his ear, "Their whole territory is so…awesome."

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!" she darted over the other side of the hill.

Redpaw's eyes widened, "Hold on. Wait! Leafpaw!" he took off after her.

But she ignored him.

"Leafpaw! I was only joking! Don't do it!"

In one powerful stride, Redpaw bound in front of her.

She pouted, " _What now?"_

"Stop! We can't actually _cross_ the border!"

Leafpaw eased her frown, "I thought you wanted to see their camp."

"Do you know what an enemy cat would do if they caught us on their land? Let alone a _CloudClan_ cat?"

"Ok, ok, fine. Let's go find something else to…"

She froze.

"Leafpaw?"

She threw him a look that read _shut up, mousebrain!_

Redpaw felt his fur rise. And not just from the strong winds.

"Redpaw, don't freak out, I think there's something hiding in the snow _!"_ she whispered to him briskly. Her teeth her clenched.

Redpaw stared at her with cluelessness. To his horror, over the sound of wind, he could faintly hear something pressing the snow, as if it were trying to sneak up on them.

" _Right. Behind. You,"_ she hissed.

Redpaw nervously looked behind him. Sure enough, something, something bigger than him, was creeping through the snow.

Once again, Redpaw felt like a cornered rabbit. The stress numbed his limbs. All he wanted to do was to turn and run.

The creature sniffed, and grunted every few seconds, oblivious to their presence.

Redpaw mouthed the word _run_ to Leafpaw. She slowly nodded.

But just as they began to back away, Redpaw stepped into the crunchy snow surface, with a _crunch._

The strange creature looked up, straight at them. It's fur swirled against the gusts of wind. Redpaw's heart pounded harder and harder, making him dizzy with stress.

They couldn't tell what it was in the darkness. All Redpaw saw was its illuminating green eyes.

Without a second's hesitation, they jumped and took off. The green-eyed attacker was right on their tails.

 _No, no, no no! Please, StarClan, let this just be a nightmare!_

After a terrifying moment of chase, the attacker leapt through the air, landing square on Leafpaw and dug his fangs into her shoulder. She screamed, even though it was overpowered by the winds.

Redpaw couldn't move. His head was spinning too fast.

As soon as Leafpaw screamed, the creature flinched and backed away. Up close, they could now see it was a cat.

"What…what…what _was that?_ " stammered Leafpaw. Her shoulder wound looked extremely painful _._

"Oh, StarClan, I'm…I'm so sorry! I…" he looked down in embarrassment, "I thought you were a rabbit," said the strange tom. He frowned, "Kits should not be out here in the storm at this hour."

Leafpaw scowled and staggered to her paws, "I am not a _kit_ , you mousebrain! We are _apprentices!_ "

"Well, to be fair, you are small for an apprentice. Both of you."

Redpaw's senses rushed back to him. He folded back his ears, "You smell like DarkClan."

The brown tom's green eyes shifted from accusation to guilt.

"Yeah," sparred Leafpaw, staggering to her feet. She jerked her head in the direction down the hill, "That's the CloudClan-MistClan border. What are you doing over _here_? On _our_ side?"

"Look, this doesn't need to be…"

"Wait, were you stealing prey?" accused Redpaw.

"What? Of course not! I was… I was just…" he had no answer.

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up. Who even are you?" asked Leafpaw.

The brown tom switched glances from Redpaw to Leafpaw. Realizing that they weren't going to go away quietly, he finally sighed, "Fine. But please, I beg you, please don't tell your clan. You know how clan leaders are about borders. If they knew I even went a _pawstep_ over the border, they would wage war on me and my clanmates. Could you, _possibly_ keep quiet about this?"

Leafpaw and Redpaw exchanged glances. Redpaw turned to the DarkClan cat unconvincingly.

"That depends on what you're doing here."

"I mean no harm, I promise. I didn't even realize I crossed into MistClan," he looked up from his paws to meet their gaze, "My name is Leafstorm. And yes, I come from DarkClan."

"So what are you doing here? You probably had to cross all of CloudClan to get this far!"

"Yes, I did. You could say I serve as a…messenger, sometimes. Dawnripple often sends me to end disputes with other clans, or to deliver messages. Today I was sent by Duskstar at sundown to make a journey across the border, and through CloudClan in order to get to BlazeClan.

The apprentices raised their eyebrows.

"Really? DarkClan to BlazeClan? That's a long journey," remarked Leafpaw.

They could barely imagine how far that trip would be.

"Yes, it is. Anyway, crossing CloudClan is the only way to get there. I was sent to BlazeClan because of a mysterious outbreak of sickness that has struck my clan. You know how winter can be the most devastating time for disease. Last time this happened, several cats died. Our medicine cat asked advice from the other medicine cats at the half-moon gathering. Speckledream, from BlazeClan, gave her an herb, and it cured my clanmates. I was sent to ask them for some of it. Dawnripple and Duskstar believe they'd be willing to give some. If they refuse, I don't know what we'll do."

Leafpaw thought for a minute, "But then, why is it so important that our leader doesn't know?"

He looked away, "Duskstar just doesn't want other clans to know. Besides, I already told you. I didn't intrude on purpose. But if you tell MistClan, they'll take this out on my clan. Please don't do that to us. We're already vulnerable enough. They're innocent."

Redpaw and Looked at each other, unsure of what to make of this. Leafpaw's face was sympathetic. Redpaw frowned and shook his head.

"We won't tell Spottedstar," vowed Leafpaw. Redpaw shot her a surprised look.

Leafstorm dipped his head, "DarkClan thanks you. I promise I'll be more careful not to cross your border," he looked at Leafpaw, "And, um, I'm sorry about, um…"

She placed a paw on her shoulder wound. Her eyes skidded away , "Eh. Don't worry about it."

Without any final words, the mysterious DarkClan tom turned and disappeared into the night of leaf-bare.

Redpaw and Leafpaw stood in the cold, and tried to make sense of what just happened.

 **Hi everyone! Thanks so much for viewing, and for reading this far. Thanks again to everyone who submitted characters, and who collaborated with me on ideas. I loved them all, and I'm grateful for the help :)**


	6. Chapter 5

Leafpaw and Redpaw slowly wandered through the snow. Their paws padded and crunched. The storm that shook everyone was finally dying down. It eased the looming silence, distracting them from the strange encounter they just had.

Leafpaw winced every once in awhile from the bite wound, but she wasn't limping.

Not many words were shared. The whole night hadn't been what they expected. And Redpaw still wasn't sure what to think of that DarkClan "messenger," Leafstorm.

"Well, I don't buy it," said Redpaw, breaking the silence.

"What are you talking about?" asked Leafpaw

"I mean, there are a hundred other routes for someone in DarkClan to get to BlazeClan. Why would he have to come all the way over here, on this side of CloudClan territory, to get there?"

"I don't know, he might've had a good reason."

"Yeah. He seemed to have plenty of those," muttered Redpaw.

Another cold breeze chilled through their pelts. Leafpaw shivered.

"So, are you going to tell Spottedstar?" she asked.

"Leafpaw, of course I am. A suspicious tom just randomly appeared on our territory. The midnight patrol even said they found _evidence of intruders!_ Do you really think we should keep this a secret? What if that tom was a spy? Or lying? What if MistClan finds out that we knew about him, and told no one? We could get in serious trouble," he fretted.

"Yeah, but Redpaw, if we tell them, then Leafstorm can't bring the medicine to his clan! Think of the cats that could die. Like he said, they're innocent!" persisted Leafpaw

"Oh, yeah. Some mysterious medicine, that he didn't even bother tell us the name of, let alone what the disease was. I think he was lying," stated Redpaw, "I'm telling Spottedstar."

Leafpaw's face clenched in frustration. She looked down, before smirking and shooting a look at her brother.

"Fine. Then _you_ can be the one to tell Stoneflower how you snuck out of camp in the middle of the night within the first moon of apprenticeship, and wandered _all the way_ to the CloudClan border! And then when she finds out there's no evidence, _you_ can be the one to defend your story."

Redpaw glowered, unconvinced.

"Oh!" her eyes widened, "And I just can't wait to see what Graydust will think about this!" her voice was lined with a mocking tone.

Redpaw sighed, swaying his ginger tail. He looked at the sky. The falling snow, and all the gusty winds would cover up any trace of Leafstorm's presence. (At least of their side) And if Graydust found out, StarClan, he might make him sprint the entire length of MistClan. This would not make him look good among his clanmates.

Finally, Redpaw huffed slowly in defeat.

"Fine," he snarled under his breath, "But if I ever even see him, anywhere near the border, I'm going straight to the leaders."

A bitter awkward silence passed.

Suddenly, Leafpaw playfully whacked him in the face with her tail, before spurting down the hill. She paused halfway down to look back up at him. Redpaw didn't budge.

"Oh, come on! Don't let it bother you! Forget about it! Pretend it didn't happen!" she yowled. She continued bounding away, kicking up snow behind her.

Redpaw rolled his eyes and gently grinned. He dashed after her.

Leafpaw laughed as she raced through the night. Redpaw now realized that Leafpaw was growing to be very fast, and nimble. Even faster than him! She sprinted like a pro; her spine flexed and her extended her body on every stride.

And that really said something, seeing as they were in shoulder-deep snow, and that Leafpaw had that gash on her shoulder.

When she was far ahead, Leafpaw turned around to taunt him by stopping to scratch her ear and yawn dramatically. She was about to dart away, just as Redpaw approached, but she wasn't fast enough.

Redpaw crashed into Leafpaw. They fell into the snow, in a flurry of hisses and . Redpaw quickly defeated her.

"Hey, let me up!" squealed Leafpaw. She wormed her way out of Redpaw's grip.

"Impressive battle moves, brother. When did you learn those?"  
"I don't know," shrugged Redpaw.

Leafpaw narrowed her eyes, "I see. But your fancy blows are no match, for your weaknesses."

"What weakne- Ah! Hey!"

Leafpaw gently swiped her paw across his neck.

"Hey, you know that hurts!" he protested. He rubbed his chest with his paw.

Leafpaw laughed. She yawned, for real this time, and stretched out, "Well, I've had enough excitement for one night. Ready to go home?"

The sound quietness of the dark, empty hills made their presence seem lonely. And Redpaw was feeling quite tired.  
"Yes. Let's go," he agreed. They began heading home, walking side by side.

Leafpaw's smile faded, "Hey."

"What?"

"Remember, our first border patrol?"

"Yeah."

"Well, just, don't listen to what Graydust and Swiftstem said, ok? If you want to try, and become a hero, maybe one day a deputy, then don't listen to them. You'd probably make a good leader."

Redpaw smiled, "Thanks, Leafpaw."

Drifty silence followed.

By now, the storm had been reduced to a still, silent night.

Redpaw believed himself to be going through a tough time, dealing with bad mentors, brutal training, leaf-bare, and But he couldn't help but notice Leafpaw making a troubled face.

"What's wrong?"

Leafpaw snapped out of it, "Huh? What?"

"I said, what's wrong? You're making that face you do when you're upset, or something," said Redpaw.

"Oh, I am?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry. I guess, I don't know. I guess I've just been worried, lately."

This surprised Redpaw. _He_ was the one who had something to really worry about. Her life seemed to be perfect.

He frowned, "Worried? Really? About what?"

Leafpaw seemed afraid to answer at first.

She locked eyes with him, "Battles."

Redpaw almost laughed. What warrior was afraid of battle? Especially her?

Redpaw chuckled, "Oh, really? I thought the brave huntress Leafpaw wasn't afraid of anything!" he teased.

"I'm serious."

He thought for a second, "Well, that ridiculous. Don't tell me you're against battles, now. I mean, what is there to be afraid of?"

Leafpaw shot him a scowl, "What is there to be afraid of? _What is there to be afraid of_? Are you mousebrained? How about injuries? Torn ears and claws? Getting your eyes gouged out? Breaking bones? _Failing your clan?_ " her eyes widened with worry.

Redpaw shrugged, "That's ok. All you need is a little technic, and practice, and-"

"No, Redpaw! That won't help! I'm terrible at fighting! I'm weak, and you know it."

 _Here she goes again._

"I'm no good at battle moves, or maneuvers, or formations, or taking orders! I"m going to fail. For everyone. I just know it," she punctuated her point by stomping in the snow and clawing a leaf from a fallen branch.

 _How could she possibly be complaining about this? Doesn't she know that she-cats like her are plenty valuable in MistClan? Besides, everyone admires her anyway._

"Come on, Leafpaw. What was that you were literally just telling me? About me not doubting myself? Battle isn't _that_ big of an aspect of warrior life," fumbled Redpaw. Of course, that wasn't true at all. But what was he supposed to say? He was twice as insecure as she was, unfit to be giving motivational advice.

She shook her head, slumping, "Maybe, but, it's just that, if my littermate brother can beat me that fast, while _playfighting_ , and not even trying, then how do you think I'll do once I'm facing angry, ferocious warriors?"

"Well, Leafpaw, you just started apprenticeship. You know, Cloudstream, Stoneflower, and Stormleaf all probably started just were you are now. I mean, they had to earn the respect they have, but they had to grow, and learn, and get better first," he paused, "Even by failing. And think about Spottedstar, or Kestrelbreeze. They aren't not big or strong, but just think about where Spottedstar is now! Seriously, you have nothing to worry about," he finished. He bowed his head, mind shifting back to his problems.

"Well said, Redpaw," she meowed.

The rest of their journey stilled without words.

As they went home, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Who knew what that DarkClan tom was really up to? Swiftstem _himself_ said that he thought DarkClan was the worst of the clans. But, he decided it couldn't do any harm to let this one go.

For Leafpaw's sake.

For now.


	7. Chapter 6

The next few days were relatively uneventful, in the midst of MistClan.

The sky remained gray and dull. It was still getting colder and more blustery outside every day. Prey was running slightly slower than normal. By this point, everyone was sharing individual pieces of prey in order to assure that everyone got something to eat. But Redpaw feared that not everyone would be able to get a bite soon. You see, apprentices were generally at the bottom of the pecking order in leaf-bare. But sometimes, when prey ran so slow that starvation was inevitable, the warriors will lose their honor to hunger, and ignore the sacred rules that allow elders and kits to eat first. According to Russetear, it's happened before. A long time ago. And even with Spottedstar's stellar leadership, if things get really bad, it could very well happen again.

Graydust continued his strict and torturous mentoring tactics. After sessions, Redpaw would feel sore to the bone, and would secretly wish that the weather tomorrow would be too bad to train in.

Just as Graydust promised, Redpaw rarely trained with Leafpaw. Both Swiftstem and Graydust were taking them out for private training more and more. Sometimes, Redpaw wouldn't see Leafpaw until sundown because of how horrific they would make their schedules.

And worst of all, when Graydust wasn't tearing him to shreds, or forcing him to sprint his heart out running, he'd cram every second Redpaw's spare time with excessive apprentice duties and chores. In fact, Graydust rarely ever trained him in hunting! Really, Redpaw only hunting practice was during hunting parties.

One day, Redpaw decided he was going to get back at Adderfoot for taunting him on his first day of apprenticeship. He slithered past a group of warriors, a stem of pine needles clutched in his jaws.

Just as he was about to slip into Adderfoot's den, he bumped directly into Leafpaw.

"Ow! Watch where you're going, birdbrain," she hissed.

"Oh, sorry. How's your shoulder doing?" asked Redpaw

"It's fine. He didn't bite that hard. Tigerfall told me to suck it up. I'm pretty sure she only said because she's running out of herbs."

"What did you tell her happened?"

"I told her I fell on a sharp stone. Yeah, she knows I was lying," she frowned at the pine stem in his mouth, "Um...what are you doing?"

"Nothing."

She glanced at Adderfoot's den, and back to him, "You're going to put that in his nest, aren't you?"

"Well…"

"Redpaw! You know I'm all for tricking and humiliating mean cats for personal amusement purposes! But this…rivalry thing, between you and Adderfoot could get really serious really fast, you realize. Please, just, don't take it too far."

Redpaw rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Fine, I promise I won't take it too far," he strode past her, "But I'm totally still putting this in his nest. It's just a prank. Think of all the times he played worse tricks on me."

Redpaw paused, looking over his shoulder at Leafpaw.

"Hey, Leafpaw, what were _you_ doing in there?" he asked.

Leafpaw looked back at him, "Just saying good morning to mom, like I always do. You really ought to talk to her more, Redpaw. She misses you."

Later that gray morning, the rare occurrence of Redpaw and Leafpaw being on the same patrol happened. It consisted of Cloudstream, Hatchnose, Swiftstem, and Graydust. Stoneflower sent them to freshen up the borders.

The patrol trotted briskly across a farm, towards the beginning of the MistClan-CloudClan border. It consisted of open fields, some barns, and a frozen orchard. Some lone rams and bulls wandered aimlessly in fenced pastures.

"Huh. Is it just me, or does this farm seem more and more depressing every time we pass it?" yawned Leafpaw. She swayed her tail in boredom.

Swiftstem sighed "We get it, Leafpaw. We've come up this trail a lot. But you have to remember that's it's very important to patrol every border, for our ancestors declared that-"

Redpaw mimicked him. Leafpaw withheld a burst of laughter.

-and nobility," finished Swiftstem. Redpaw and Leafpaw were silently giggling.

Hatchnose raced ahead of the patrol. His muscle shown as climbed the slope. Today, he wore a very proud, and arrogant complexion. Once at the top, he raised his tail, and shoved his ears forward.

"Well!" he hollered to the patrol, "It's seems we have some company!"

The patrol anxiously rushed to the top of the hill. Leafpaw and Redpaw exchanged uneasy glances. This was near the spot where they found Leafstorm…

Sure enough, two, no, three warriors were running up the other side of the hill.

Redpaw was intrigued. He had never seen a CloudClan cat before.

The lean, hard-muscled bodies of the CloudClan warriors grew closer to the oncoming patrol. Their short pelts were wet with sweat and melted snow. Narrow eyes grimaced, they stalked closer.

"Uh oh," uttered Leafpaw.

"Mouse dung. What do _they_ want?" hissed Cloudstream.

The MistClan patrol readied themselves.

The first tom, the leader, as it appeared, was a speckled gray tom. Trailing him was a black tom, and a white she-cat with a gray stripe down her back.

"Greetings, MistClan. We've been waiting for a patrol all morning."

"May we ask why?" meowed Hatchnose threateningly. He took a pace towards them.

"No need to unsheathe your claws, Hatchnose. We only bring a message," replied the gray tom.

Swiftstem glanced at his patrol, "Is that so, Eaglestorm? What message requires three full-warriors to deliver?"

The black CloudClan tom narrowed his eyes, "Don't act so smug, MistClan! We know you've been invading our territory!"

Cloudstream, Hatchnose and Swiftstem yowled in protest, "Lies!"

"That's foxdung!"

"You thirst for battle!"

Redpaw and Leafpaw tensed.

"Spiderfang, we've done no such thing," snapped Swiftstem, "If anything, we've found _your_ scents on _our_ side!"

"Then explain why Snowstrike and Spiderfang here, keep finding strange cat scents deep in our land," growled Eaglestorm, "Right here, along _your_ border."

"You liers! Mouse-hearted liers!" hissed Cloudstream.

"Leave it to CloudClan to look for trouble," grumbled Hatchnose.

"Why, you-" started Spiderfang. He started to approach, but Eaglestorm whipped his tail out to block his path, "Now, now, we didn't come here to start fights," he meowed firmly. Each side was poised for attack.

"Like I said before, we came to present the newly appointed Goldenstar's message," explained Eaglestorm.

 _So Goldenclaw_ is _the new CloudClan leader,_ thought Redpaw.

"Goldenstar agreed that MistClan probably isn't purposely sending over trespassers, and acknowledged that gracefully," he dipped his head and narrowed his eyes, "However,"

Everyone's claws unsheathed.

"He said to make it very clear, that if we were to find your scents on our land again, he would take immediate action. You have been warned."

Hatchnose bared his teeth. The scar of his nose made him seem all the more menacing, "Well you can tell Goldenstar that-"

"Hatchnose, please, just, shut up," said Graydust, "You'll drag all of MistClan into this quarrel with your temper."

Hatchnose looked like he was about to explode. He clutched the snow between his claws.

Graydust turned to the CloudClan patrol, "Your threat is well accounted for. But just know, even if you do decide to blame your own trespassings on us again, you would, and could, _never_ beat the best of MistClan. He glanced at his clanmates, who howled their approval.

Eaglestorm huffed a deep breath and scowled, "Don't say we didn't warn you."

Without any further words, the CloudClan cats turned and retreated in the direction that they came from. Spiderfang shot them one last furious look, and shook with anger

"Well, that just happened," blinked Redpaw.

"Welcome to the day in the life of a warrior, Redpaw," said Swiftstem. He watched the CloudClan cats disappear over the side of a distant hill.

"We should be keeping a better eye on those mousehearts. CloudClan's been jumpier than usual lately," commented Cloudstream, waving her slim white tail. The patrol started moving again.

"CloudClan's always been this way. I'd say they're _always_ just a bunch of hot-headed foxhearts," retorted Hatchnose.

"One day, Hatchnose, you're going to get us all killed," grumbled Graydust.

"Um, no. What I was doing was fine. You're the one who made us look weak!"

"With your words, they would've attacked. But with mine, they left with only a warning. They made themselves look weak."

Hatchnose growled.

"You know what looks _really_ weak?," meowed Cloudstream, "A divided clan. We shouldn't argue in front of our enemies from now on."

"That's right," agreed Swiftstem.

Hatchnose rolled his eyes.

Redpaw and Leafpaw purposely lagged behind, staring at each other with wide eyes. They hissed to each other in hushed voices.

"Oh, StarClan," muttered Leafpaw.

"You know Leafpaw, _this_ , is why we tell certain things, you know, _like intruders!_ To the leader!" spluttered Redpaw.

"Hey, hey, we have no proof the scents they found were Leafstorm's, or ours…"

"Oh. Really, Leafpaw. You're right. I'm just sure there's another random cat that decided to intrude the _exact spot_ we found Leafstorm! What are the odds!"

"Yes, Redpaw! That actually could've happened! Besides, they say CloudClan always overreacts over these kinds of things. No one will blame _us_."

"Admit it, Leafpaw. That tom was probably a spy, and now he's going to-"

"What, in the name of StarClan, are you two whispering about?" growled Graydust.

Redpaw felt his heart drop, "Uh, nothing."

"Are you sure? You seem quite tense," Graydust's eyes narrowed.

 _Oh, foxdung. I'm doomed._

"Um, yes sir."

"Really."

"Yeah! We were just...we were just talking about…"

"If you and your sister are keeping secrets, don't bother telling me," his face menaced, "I'll find out," he stalked to the front of the patrol with slitted eyes.

Redpaw and Leafpaw once again lagged behind the rest of the patrol. Graydust would occasionally shoot them a look.

"Don't worry about him," whispered Leafpaw, "What we did won't send us to the dark forest. Busting apprentices is just what mentors like to do."

"Yeah. Just not Swiftstem," Redpaw thought bitterly. He shoved his ears forward and stared at the ground in front of him.

She frowned, "What did you say?"

He didn't mean to say that last part out loud…

"Um, Redpaw," she murmured, "You're not, _jealous_ , of me for having Swiftstem as a mentor, are you?"

"I don't know," he groaned.

"Because, Graydust isn't all bad, you know. Heck, last night, when we were out of camp and fighting, you looked pretty good. Espeacially compared to me," she threw in bitterly.

Redpaw didn't answer.

"I'm serious! Graydust will make you into a fine warrior!"  
Redpaw nodded and fake smiled. He decided not to voice all the hardships that being Graydust's mentor had. He didn't want her to feel guilty. So he forced a grin, "Yeah, I guess so."

As morning ended, the cloudy gray sky darkened. The stiffening cold air punctuated the coming of a snowstorm. The patrol neared camp, and much to their convenience. These days, the cold in their territory during storms could be brutal.

Graydust, Hatchnose, Swiftstem, and Cloudstream all sighed with a relief of warmth once they reentered the warm camp.

Swiftstem peeked behind him, "Come on, you two! Get inside! The last thing we need is for you two to get whitecough."

"Coming!" Leafpaw scampered up next to her mentor.

Redpaw was about to run after her, when he felt a paw prod his shoulder. Alarm jutted through him.

He whipped around, to see Brookshadow.

"Brookshadow? What…"

She held a black paw to her mouth, signalling for him to be quiet.

"Follow me. There's something you have to see," she whispered.

Redpaw cocked his head, perplexed.

"It's about what you found with Leafpaw."

Redpaw was just startled she even knew about that. Curious, he followed.

Once they were out of earshot, Redpaw raised his voice again, "What's going on? How do you know-"

In the pitch black, Brookshadow shuffled away out of sight.

"Brookshadow?" no response. Redpaw didn't like this at all.

Suddenly, another cat bundled in Redpaw, knocking the wind out of him. He dug his claws into Redpaw's hide. Redpaw withered, but couldn't free himself from the cat's grip. He could feel his grimy breath.

"That'll teach you not to leave pine needles in someone's den," It was Adderfoot. Redpaw was unnerved by the calm growl Adderfoot spoke with, "Traitor."

Adder released him and left him laying in the snow, "Come on, Mouseheart. Fight me. Just like you wanted."

Wary limbs and sore paws kept Redpaw from attacking. He staggered to his paws and struggled in vain to get away.

Adderfoot just sat glass-still, "Coward."

Redpaw stopped, just before he entered camp. He glowered back.

"Fine. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Redpaw lunged at his foe, his energy fueled by fury. They both pounced high, with Adderfoot on his hind legs. They clashed viciously.

Redpaw attempted to dig his teeth into Adderfoot's front leg, but the lanky warrior was smarter. He used Redpaw's high pounce against him, pushing him into the ground. Redpaw's flank hit the compressed snow with a _thump._

Adderfoot backed away, smirking.

Redpaw felt another rush of adrenaline. He scrambled to his feet, and pounced with a battle cry.

Once again, Adderfoot shifted out of the way. When he stumbled forward, Adderfoot smashed into Redpaw's torso.

Redpaw rolled away from the pain.

Grunting, Redpaw struggled to his feet and raised his paw to strike back, but Adderfoot slashed him across the muzzle first.

Redpaw staggered backwards, defeated. He could taste the blood welling from the scratch.

Adderfoot stood, tensed, pounced, and struck one last cruel brow straight to his head.

"Come on, Adderfoot," muttered Brookshadow, "He's had enough." Adderfoot hesitated,

With that, they turned their tails and left him lying in the snow. Redpaw shivered. They left him in a flurry of paw prints and scratches. To his horror, Redpaw could see his own blood staining the snow.

Once he saw them disappear into camp, he felt sick, and dizzy. Lying there defeated, Redpaw slowly slipped away from consciousness.


	8. Chapter 7

Leafpaw took a deep breath, her shaky exhale coming out as a whisper.

It was before dawn, the day after the startling CloudClan confrontation.

With her gentle paws, she prodded at her mouse. It was stiff, and its fur was speckled with frost. It's skin was pale and stringy. Eating it would probably be as delightful as biting into a piece of rubber.

The dark, slim frame of Brookshadow loomed over her. Her blue eyes glowed

"What's up, Leafpaw? You look less bouncy than normal."

Leafpaw moaned as rolled onto her side, "I don't know if you're mocking me or not, Brookshadow, but I'm really not in the mood."

"No no, don't worry, I'm not," she sat down across from her, "Come on, I know you feel terrible. You can tell me what's wrong."

Leafpaw rolled back onto her belly. Half of her pelt was glittered with bits of snow, "Really?"

"Of course. We've been friends since your mom made me babysit you all those moons ago."  
"A horrible decision."

"That's besides the point," Brookshadow looked away, "But you definitely can trust me." Now, Leafpaw could tell from this clever she-cat's tone that she wasn't being completely honest about that last part. She didn't like the look in her eye. Nonetheless, what could she possibly do?

Leafpaw hesitated. She shoved her paw through the snow. Finally, she sighed, "Have you ever been a situation where you want to do the right thing, but if you did it, then it would likely end in disaster? Or, just, where you just can't do anything about it? Or-"

Brookshadow tilted her head, "You're talking about Redpaw and Adderfoot, aren't you?"

Of course, in reality, Leafpaw was referring to Leafstorm and the DarkClan cats. But it was definitely best for her to let Brookshadow believe what she wanted to believe.

"Yeah."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it."

"Yeah?"

"I mean, come on, Leafpaw. They're competitive. Greedy. Hot-headed. That's just how toms are."

"Mm-hm," Leafpaw was quickly losing interest in this conversation.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprise if-"

Brookshadow was cut off by an urgent yowl ringing across camp, "Quick! Redpaw's been attacked! He's out here!" It was Kestrelbreeze, racing into camp with a horrified look on her face

Leafpaw's jerked awake as she leapt to her paws. Several other warriors raced to camp entrance.

 _Oh, StarClan, what has he gotten himself into now?_

She scrambled forward. It was hard to see what was going on with the gathering crowd, so she pushed her way through.

But before Leafpaw could see what was happening, Brookshadow stepped out in front of her.

Leafpaw tried to go around, but she blocked her path.

"What are you doing? Let me through!"

Brookshadow's face menaced, "Just remember, next time I see you or your stupid brother sneaking out of camp to see enemy warriors, Adderfoot will do worse."

Heart pounding, Leafpaw pushed her way past Brookshadow to see a half-frozen Redpaw being dragged into Tigerfall's den.

/

"Ow!"

Redpaw pulled his paw away, putting it up to his mouth.

"Chill out, Redpaw, it's not going to get any better if you don't cooperate!"

"I know, I know. But it really hurts!"

Redpaw was sitting on the soily floor of Tigerfall's den. It was small, and cozy, and was inside a small willow den with the walls of camp. The walls were lined with juniper and willow branches.

It had only been hours since Redpaw was discovered outside camp, wounded and unconscious. Tigerfall told him he was lucky they found him when they did. A few more minutes would have been fatal.

"Quit whining, Mousebrain, it'll hurt a lot more when you go out in the snow without any treatment."

Tigerfall sniffed his paw. Then, without warning, she swiftly plucked out a deep thorn from his pad. Redpaw yelped.

"Ouch, careful! That really hurt!"

She rolled her eyes.

His pad welled with blood.

Tigerfall pressed a soft, frozen solid leaf against his face. The cold shocked him

Redpaw instinctively pulled his face away, "Hey, what-"

"Quit being so squirmy, Redpaw!"

Redpaw pawed the leaf out of her grip, "What even is that?"

"It's _the herb_ that's going to help heal that scratch on your face," she gently pressed it into his muzzle wound, "Whoever fought you last night, they sure weren't happy with you."

Redpaw flinched. He backed away, and frowned.

Tigerfall bared her teeth in annoyance, "What the heck is wrong with you? Stop jumping!"

"Tigerfall, I told you, it was Adderfoot. He did it. _Adderfoot_ did this to me."

"Redpaw, quit telling people that. He did no such thing."

"Yes he did! I mean, did I leave some thorns in his nest the night before? Sure. But that's no reason to leave someone in the snow to die!"

Tigerfall folded back her ears, "Fine, Redpaw. Let's just say he did. Let's say you're telling the truth, and he left you outside to freeze to death on purpose. StarClan, that kind of thing should be punishable by exile, in my opinion. But, everyone, and don't take this the wrong way, but everyone thinks you've been really stuck-up and jealous lately."

"What? What would I be jealous of? What _is_ there to be jealous of?" he spat.

"It's painfully obvious. I mean, they way you mope around, throwing glances at Leafpaw and Adderfoot all the time, they'll think blaming Adderfoot is a grab for attention."

Redpaw's heart panged. Not from pain, but from her words. Was that really was his clan thought of him? A whiny apprentice? So much for earning their respect.

"Ok, Redpaw, I'm going to try this one more time. I'm just trying to help you heal," she meowed firmly.

But Redpaw's mind was too busy swimming with thought to worry about the slab of ice pressed against his face. He was disturbed by what Tigerfall said.

Once Tigerfall was done, Redpaw left her den with the same unmoving concerned look on his face. He felt awful.

Leafpaw skidded to a stop in front of him, bursting bits of snow in his face.

"Oh my gosh, Redpaw. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, Leafpaw, I'm fine, seriously."

Suddenly, Stoneflower stormed up to him, Spottedstar by her side. Several other warriors followed them with interest. Stoneflower's eyes burned with fury.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Redpaw," she growled. Her tall gray ears were broadly pointed forward.

Even though Stoneflower was much bigger and stronger than Spottedstar, she bowed her head in respect as the tortoiseshell she-cat strode by. Redpaw felt himself cower.

Her eyes, unblinking, stared into him with seriousness, "Redpaw. I need you to tell us what happened last night," she exchanged glances with her deputy, "Who, or what, attacked you?"

Redpaw noticed the top of Adderfoot's head poking above everyone else's. His face was smug. After was Tigerfall said, he was a little afraid to tell everyone that it was Adderfoot.

"Um, I got in a fight. With Adderfoot."

Stoneflower huffed, and Spottedstar looked unsure, "Um, he, fought you last night?"

"Who attacked first?" asked Stoneflower loudly. Her stern, frosty stare bore into his.

"Well, technically, I did. But what what he did was actually violent!" he yelled, pointing to his own face.

Stoneflower and Spottedstar both made perplexed faces. They turned to Adderfoot.

To Redpaw's shock, Adderfoot's pelt was riddled with fresh scratches, making it look like he had been raked.

Of course, Redpaw barely even touched Adderfoot the other night. That sneaky badger heart must've scratched himself to make it look like _he_ was the victim. Next to Adderfoot's "wounds," the cut on Redpaw's face looked like nothing.

Adderfoot's eyes widened with fake innocence, "Redpaw, I'm so sorry! If I'd known you'd fallen unconscious, I wouldn't have left you out there. Sorry about the scratch. I was just trying to push you away after you attacked me."

All the heads turned back to Redpaw's direction.

"That's not what happened!"

"Then what _did_ happen?" someone asked from the clowder.

Redpaw persisted, "I didn't even touch him, I swear!"

Stoneflower scowled at him, unconvinced.

Now, Redpaw just wished this day could be over. Here, everyone he loved and respected was here to witness this humiliation. He could feeling them cringing. Rosefang looked embarrassed. He turned to Leafpaw for help, but even she struggled to meet his gaze.

No one said a word. Redpaw knew they all thought he was lying, which to them, was, too painfully obvious.

Spottedstar seemed uncomfortable. But, she maintained her stern gaze, "Redpaw, Listen to me right now. You realize that, in most cases, attacking another clanmate, let alone a warrior, is very serious. Especially during leaf-bare. The wounds you inflicted on him are _serious_ , and inflicting this kind of brutality is _never_ ok."

"But I didn't-"

Stoneflower threw him a furious look.

Redpaw's breath quickened with anger as she continued. He resisted an outburst.

"As punishment, I want you to take over Adderfoot's chore duties, for a half-moon," she concluded, "And I'll let Graydust carry out the rest. As a leader, I'm very disappointed with your behavior. I'm sure your mentor and kin agree."

Redpaw lowered his head in shame. He could feel everyone staring at him.

"Be thankful for a merciful punishment," muttered Stoneflower.

Then, Spottedstar turned to Adderfoot, "And you, you shouldn't have left him out there, even if you thought he was fine. He could have died, thanks to your ignorance. Three days of full night watches."

Adderfoot nodded, "Yes, Spottedstar.

As the cats began to disperse, Stoneflower nodded with content. She turned, and departed walking side by side with her leader.

Leafpaw bounded to her brother's side.

"Leafpaw, I-"

"Not now, mousebrain! Come here!"

Without warning, Leafpaw yanked Redpaw away into the apprentice den. Leaving everyone with perplexed looks on their faces.

In the apprentice den, Redpaw kicked his sister away, "Hey, quit dragging me places all the time! By the ear!"  
"Redpaw, they knew we met Leafstorm."

Redpaw's heart dropped.

"Who?"

"Brookshadow and Adderfoot."

"How do you know?"

She looked away, "Brookshadow told me, when they brought you in. Now she and Adderfoot think we're making backdoor deals with other clans, or something!"

No wonder Adderfoot called him a traitor. Cornering him, provoking him, beating him up leaving him there… That whole thing was probably at a means to scare them.

"That's impossible! How did they find out?"

"I don't know! But I'm really, really scared now."

"But, that doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't they just tell Stoneflower?"

Leafpaw rolled her eyes, "You know how they are They want to hold this against us. Or you, more specifically. I was wrong, Redpaw. We should have told Spottedstar about Leafstorm when we had the chance. Now who knows what they'll do when they tell them! Stoneflower will have our tails!"

"Wait," muttered Redpaw. Leafpaw stopped pacing, "You're not still mad at me for a rivalry with Adderfoot, are you?"  
"Oh no, I am. What _you_ did was idiotic. But that's not a big deal compared this. Redpaw, Brookshadow and Adderfoot have _our fate_ in their paws. They could get us exiled, if they wanted to. Don't you realize that?"

Leafpaw's troubling words were overdramatic, but she made a point. What if they started blackmailing them?

He sighed, "It's ok. We'll think of something. We just need to have each other's backs. And, if they did end up ratting us out, well, just don't stress over whether that happens or not. I'm sure we wouldn't be exiled. We're just apprentices."

Leafpaw nodded, looking a little comforted. But Redpaw still felt uneasy.

/

"Faster, Redpaw! Faster!"

It was another grim afternoon.

As it always does, the days were becoming longer, and the first signs of new-leaf were flickering. Maybe this dreadful leafbare was coming to a close.

Redpaw grunted, struggling to maintain his balance.

He was currently hovering over a stream, balanced on a thin branch. It was warm enough for the streams to run, but likely still as cold as ice. But Redpaw didn't want to find out.

"Use your tail, Redpaw! Quit stalling!"

"I'm trying!" Redpaw stumbled. His claws skidded the branch.

"Then try harder," rumbled Graydust. The calm and seriousness in his voice was eerie.

With every second that Redpaw came closer to slipping and falling, the gurgling of the stream became louder. Every rift made his fur stand up on end. The water swirled and flowed powerfully around ice shards lining the bank.

"Redpaw!"

Graydust's snarl snapped Redpaw out of his daze. He hugged the branch to avoid falling.

"Come on! You look like a stranded kit clinging to a bramble! Keep walking!"

Redpaw hauled himself along the branch. The further he went, the thinner and bendier the branch became. His heart lurched as he felt it all lean forward.

"Graydust! I need to get down! The branch is going to break!"  
"Nonsense. Brittle branches break. That one will just bend until you fall off the other end."

 _Oh, typical Graydust. Taking pleasure out of my failures. Why not try, I don't know, actually giving me advice for once?_

Hefting himself to his paws, Redpaw carefully crept forward. Graydust didn't say a word.

Redpaw couldn't take his eyes off the stream, nor the jagged edges of the ice.

Suddenly, the branch bent downwards under Redpaw's weight. He yelped. With a clumsy leap, Redpaw pounced from the branch with flying limbs. His paws hit the icy water.

Redpaw frantically screamed. He raced from the riverbed, stopping right in front of his mentor.

Graydust shook his head.

"Hey, I almost made it that time!"

"That was pathetic."

"Oh come on, it's impossible to make it to the other side perfectly! I only got my paws wet!"

"I don't care. Do it again."

Redpaw growled, and stomped a burst of snow into the stream, "This is dangerous! What if I fall in the stream?"

"Then you'll do it again with wet fur."

"Ughh, I could kill myself doing this! Like you care about that. I'm not doing it again."

His face hardened, " _I_ am your mentor. You'll do as _I_ say. Now cross the stream, climb the tree, and try it again!" When Redpaw didn't budge, he went on, "Right. Now. Or do you want another moon of night patrols?"

Redpaw growled. But he reluctantly turned and crossed the stream using some frostbitten stepping stones.

After Graydust found out about Redpaw attacking Adderfoot, he gave him an entire moon of night watches, followed by dawn patrols. And he never took it easy on him, just because he was sleep deprived.

Redpaw wondered if Graydust was making him do this exercise to wake him up; by getting him fall in ice cold water…

"I hate you," whispered as he landed on the other side.

"Excuse me?"

Foxdung. He heard him.

Redpaw slowly turned to his mentor. Oh, StarClan. Graydust always overreacted to these things. How was Graydust going to punish him now? Sprint the length of MistClan? Hang on a branch by his jaws?

Graydust scowled, "Fine. If you don't want me around, then you can do this on your own," he turned, and bitterly stode away. He turned back.

"But don't even think about coming back to camp without soaked paws and enough prey to feed all the elders and queens."

 _Outrageous._

"You're so unreasonable!" sparred Redpaw.

Graydust kept walking, "Climb your branch."

Redpaw wished he could claw his face off. Did he _want_ him to end up crippled?

He was pretty convinced that Graydust didn't care by this point. All he probably wanted to do was yell and throw harsh punishments at him. He had to be the worst mentor ever.

Nonetheless, Redpaw angrily whirled around and stormed over to the tree.


	9. Chapter 8

The sun glowed weakly through the thin layers of clouds.

In the morning, it started as a pale golden glow. But now, it was noon. And the leafbare sun hovered midway up the sky, the highest it ever went this time of year.

Redpaw prowled through the trees. The patches of forestland in MistClan were small and scattered, but all that he could see was the snow, and the rows of the dull wooded trunks.

Mouse-brained Graydust. What was wrong with him? Redpaw's paws were still crusted with ice after being splashed by the stream, and hours of hunting.

A startling thought hit Redpaw.

What if Graydust knew about Leafstorm?

He did vow the other day that he would find what he and Leafpaw were hiding. Could he possibly have found out?

Maybe Brookshadow and Adderfoot sold them out. Crowhearts.

Maybe Graydust was treating him even worse than usual, because he thought he was a traitor. And his old mentor's harsh grip on him had been especially tighter since the Adderfoot fight incident.

No matter, Redpaw was almost finished hunting for all the elders and queens, just as Graydust wanted. He caught five scrawny leaf-bare animals. The sight of their bodies made him gag, but at this time of year, every shriveled mouse was considered worthwhile.

Redpaw just had to catch one more thing to return to camp. He technically could go back now, but he figured he'd catch something for Amberkit and Lionkit first.

Redpaw's hairs rose. He could hear something.

Following his nose, Redpaw stalked. He was careful to stay light on his feet, so that he didn't crunch through the crisp layer of snow.

Redpaw lunged forward.

There, he could see it. His victim. A plump, bee-brained squirrel gnawing away at its meal.

Its last meal.

Its ears pricked with alarm.

With a powerful leap, Redpaw attacked the frightened rodent, missing the deathbite, and went tumbling into the snow with it

 _Mouse dung._

It squealed an awful shriek. After strangling it for a moment, Redpaw finally dispatched his prey. The squirrel hung from his jaws.

 _Finally!_ He thought with relief, _Finally, I can go home! And get out of this snow!_

Redpaw scooped up his prize and hurried away, to where he buried the other five mice. The elders would be impressed with his work, no doubt. The queens would be proud. Spottedstar and the warriors might even forget about his embarrassing encounter with Adderfoot. He could just imagine little Amberkit and Lionkit, gawking in awe at his load with their huge eyes. He could see them playing with squirel's bushy tail, like they always did when they were done eating.

Redpaw's hopeful stream of thoughts came screeching to a halt.

 _Oh, StarClan, no,_

Redpaw dropped the squirrel and sprinted to where he buried the food. His face fell with horror.

"No! Foxdung! Why!"

In a bloody crater of snow, every single mouse that he hunted and killed, was gone.

Feeling all the frustration come rushing out, Redpaw yowled and clawed the snow. How could this happen? And after all of his hard work?

Some crow, or fox must've dug up his precious stores. Now it was gone. All his work was wasted.

Redpaw sat. He looked around. He was still shaking with anger. Now what would he do?

With no further ideas, all that Redpaw could bring himself to do was glare.

Redpaw glared at his paws. He glared at the snow. He glared at the trees. He glared at the sky. He glared at a bush.

And it glared back.

Redpaw jumped backwards in a fit of a hiss. Sure enough, a beady pair black eyes glimmered back in the bushes.

"Who's there?" he stammered.

A big, fat, stinky raccoon emerged before him. It bared it's curved, needle-sharp teeth at the sight of the red-furred apprentice.

Redpaw noticed it's muzzle running with musty scarlet liquid, and a rounded belly. It had just had a decent meal.

 _The foxheart must've stolen my freshkill!_

What was it thinking of him? Dominance? Territory? Food?

Oh, it didn't matter. What mattered was that an angry raccoon about to rip him to shreds.

"Stay away!" spat Redpaw. He slunk backwards.

The raccoon growled again, louder this time

 _I'm crowfood._

Redpaw realized he didn't have chance to win this fight. Heart pounding, he turned tail and fled.

Redpaw raced down the hill. He made a beeline straight for camp.

"Help!" he screamed, "Help! Raccoon!"

The raccoon was hot on his trail with snapping jaws and vicious snarls. For a plump ball of fur, it was pretty fast.

With one long stride, it struck Redpaw with its yellow claws.

Yowling in protest, Redpaw felt himself being forced to lock in battle with the raccoon.

Redpaw struggled to remember his battle training, but the scuffle was happening so fast. It was a scattered blur of ferocious flurry, of swift bites and slashes.

For a moment, Redpaw was doing fine. He kicked away the raccoon in the stomach, who squealed away. He turned to make a run for it,

Suddenly, pain seared in his chest.

 _Oh no, not now!_

This time, the pain was so bizarre and so sudden, that Redpaw moaned a cry, horrified. It felt as if something were squeezing his heart.

Seeing that Redpaw was caught off guard, the raccoon attacked again.

The monterous creature pinned him down. It bit, firmly gripping his shoulder with its sharp teeth.

Redpaw howled with panic as the raccoon continued to brutalize him.

By this point, he wasn't sure what was more dracting, the raccoon trying to kill him, or the alarming pain blaring inside of him.

Just as Redpaw thought it was over, a battle cry rang.

They froze.

Much to his relief, Stoneflower, Rosefang, Swiftstem and Leafpaw were storming over, like an angry herd of bulls.

Redpaw was dazed. He stared into the foggy sky. His sight was becoming just as the distorted and fuzzy as the sun appeared.

They realized that the piercing cry was from Leafpaw. She raced ahead of the others, and pounced into the raccoon.

"Get off my brother, you mangy piece of crowfood!" she yowled. She tried to force it off of Redpaw, but her triumph was brief. The raccoon pushed her off as if she were merely a troublesome kit. She tstumbled backwards, falling facedown. Leafpaw winced as her face hit the snow.

The sturdy bodies of Swiftstem, Rosefang, and Stoneflower followed. Roaring, they lunged into battle.

The now terrified racoon folden back its ears and bared its teeth once more, but it was too overwhelmed by the flood of warriors. Wounded Redpaw and Leafpaw watched in horror.

Even though he was still writhing in pain from his chest, Redpaw couldn't help but feel a wave of admiration for his clanmates. Swiftstem's quick strikes. Stoneflower's brute strength. Rosefang's passion.

Working together, they all drove the raccoon back into the forest.

"Stop! Let it run. No need to provoke it into another skirmish," commanded Stoneflower.

Swiftstem and Rosefang rushed to the apprentice's aid.

"Oh, my kits, my babies!"

"Mom," gasped Redpaw, "Please don't refer to us as your babies. That's weird."

"Don't go into the light!" shrieked Rosefang

"Don't worry Rosefang, they're fine," grumbled Stoneflower, ""Come on, let's get them back to camp. Can you walk, Leafpaw?"

She staggered to her feet, "Um, I think so." She seemed embarrassed at how quickly she lost her battle.

"Swiftstem, help Leafpaw."

"Of course, Stoneflower," said Swiftstem. He slowly helped his apprentice keep her balance.

"Rosefang, help me carry Redpaw."

"It's ok, I got it."

Redpaw felt his mother help him to his paws, before heading back towards camp.

"Yeesh, Redpaw, you gave us another scare. How many times in one quarter moon do we have to rescue you?"

"My chest!"

"What's wrong with him?" fretted Rosefang.

"He's just shocked. Let's get him to Barksky,," said Stoneflower

Redpaw's mind was whirling, but he couldn't help his mind from drifting to one uneasy question:

 _What kind of warrior am I if I can't win any of my battles?_


	10. Chapter 9

Barksky sat facing away. His posture was slouched, yet tense and stiff. Redpaw assumed he was either really worried or really annoyed

His striped tail flickered.

Barksky then made a low, scratchy sound. Redpaw wasn't sure whether it was a purr or a growl.

"Now, remind me why it was so urgent you two needed to see me right now, in the middle of the day while I'm trying to work?"

Leafpaw and Redpaw exchanged glances. Odd remark for a medicine cat.

After Redpaw's pains acted up during the raccoon attack, they decided it was time to consult with the medicine cat. Normally Tigerfall tended to patients, (now that she had her medicine cat name) but Redpaw and Leafpaw decided that they should go to Barksky for this, seeing as he was more expirienced.

"It's, um, it Redpaw's pains, sir," said Leafpaw.

Barksky continued on sorting his herbs, " Uh huh,"

They frowned. Was he even listening?  
"Um, Barksky? It's, well, it's getting worse," added Redpaw.

Barksky murmured another grumble. He started wandering around, putting things away, not even casting them a glance.

"We're serious!" hissed Leafpaw.

Finally, the old tabby turned to them. His eyes were strange; they glowed, yet were a dull, green-gray color.

His face clenched, "Tigerfall isn't doing anything right now. Why don't you go bother her with your petty apprentice 'owies'?"

Leafpaw's jaw opened with disgust, "Are you kidding? We're coming to you for help! We know that you couldn't diagnose him as a kit, but could you at least take him seriously? What if his life in danger?"

Barksky never showed much emotion, but he seemed a little taken back by her. As if no apprentice had ever talked to him like that.

"Look at me, Redpaw," said Barksky. Redpaw jerked his head in his direction, "Take a deep breath."

Redpaw obeyed.

"Did that hurt?"  
"No, sir."  
"How often do these pains occur?"

"No much, until recently. And when it does come, it's really painful now," he scowled, "And they always seem to happen at the worst possible times.

"Hmm," once again, Barksky seemed to only be half-paying attention. He was examining bits of a twig in the corner.

"And when it hurts, would you say it centers around your breathing, or heartbeat?"

"I dunno, both?"

Barksky flicked away the twig with his claw, just like Lionkit did when he was bored.

"Redpaw, I don't know what to tell you. You came to me with just as much information as Rosefang did when you were a kit," he meowed, shaking his head, "Of course, I cannot just send you off if you feel you might collapse at any moment. Especially alone with a raccoon. Fortunately, I know Rowanleaf of CloudClan has some experience with internal and unseen conditions. And Speckledream naturally has a vast amount of medical knowledge, with her experience. I'll consult the medicine cats at the next half-moon. In the meantime, I recommend you cease your strange habit of wandering off and getting in fights."

Redpaw held his tongue. Barksky was only teasing. Probably.

"Until then, don't go out alone, and tell me if you have more information. Don't worry, I'll consult with Graydust to hold off on the solo missions for now."

Great. Another reason for Graydust to torment him.

Leafpaw nodded, "Ok. That's good. Right?" she turned to her brother, who was in a daze, " _Right_ Redpaw?"

"Huh? Yeah. Sure."

"Well, move along then. I have a lot to do," said Barksky

/

"Redpaw. Redpaw. Redpaw? Come on!" Leafpaw's voice echoed in his hear.

Redpaw refused to open his eyes. _Oh StarClan, please, five more minutes._

"It's a miracle he ever gets up," a tom grumbled.

"Just give him a minute. Redpaw! We have a border patrol!"

"We should leave him here. He needs it. Obviously, since he seems to think he's so special…"

"Oh, be quiet. He's just, stubborn. That's a good trait, right?" irritated, she pawed him in the face.

Just as fast as it started just a week before, the oncoming of pain in his torso welled.

"Not again!" dismayed Redpaw.

"What's wrong?" the tom groaned, in an irritated tone.

Redpaw blinked. He was surprised to see Adderfoot standing next Leafpaw over him.

"Oh no, is it your chest again?" mewed Leafpaw.

Redpaw nodded. He scrunched up his face to bear with it.

Adderfoot rolled his eyes.

Stoneflower butted her big head in, "Hey, you three! Ready to go?"

Redpaw moaned again.

"Um, I think Redpaw should stay here, for the morning," meowed Leafpaw.

She sighed a heavy sigh, "All right. You two, come out when you're ready."

Adder slashed his tail, "Of course. I don't know why you take care of him so much, Leafpaw. He's obviously faking it."

"He's my brother!"

"Ok, ok. Sorry I asked," Adderfoot mumbled, rolling his eyes. He followed Stoneflower outside. As his pale tail flickered and disappeared around the corner, Redpaw wished that he could sink his teeth into that tom's skin.

He was sure Leafpaw felt the same, even though she didn't seem as mad.

"Ok. I gotta go. Get better. See you later!" called Leafpaw. With that, she bounced after Adderfoot outside.

Redpaw rolled back into his nest. The pain reminded him of all the times he got sick as a kit. Laying around, feeling nauseous, wishing _the sickening feeling of pain would just go away._

Neither Redpaw nor Leafpaw were terribly hurt from the raccoon attack. To his surprise, Graydust actually apologized. Graydust! Although, Redpaw suspected that he was forced to.

As the morning progressed, Redpaw realized that it wasn't just chest pains. He was actually getting sick. Migraines drizzled in and out of his head. Exhausting naps, cricks in his neck, and bizarre dreams filled his morning.

By noon, he simply felt miserable. He decided it was worth to go see Tigerfall.

The walk to her den seemed as fuzzy as his dreams.

"You need rest," advised a flustered Tigerfall, "...obviously. I'm giving you some feverfew for your the headaches, and to bring your temperature donw. But if I were you, I'd get some fresh air. Go outside. Give yourself someone to talk to. Seriously, I've had this before, and sleeping in a stuffy den all day will just make you stiff and miserable."

Redpaw ate his prescribed herbs, before finding himself a comfy spot in camp to relax. As far as weather went, it was a typical, late-leafbare day. The sun was warm, but the air was cold.

A little later, a returning hunting patrol poured into camp. All of them carried a decent load of prey, for a winter hunting party.

The cats in camp made sounds of rejoice, and greeted their clanmates gracefully.

Spottedstar's eyes lit up, "My! What a hunt! You all must've worked really hard to gather that much fresh-kill!"

Hatchnose raised his nose, "We didn't need to. It's _crawling_ with unaware prey out there! Didn't even need to try. We could've just sat there, waitng for it to jump into our paws, and we still would caught enough"

Redpaw was in a daze. He mindlessly staring at a crinkled leaf, rustling across the snow.

He didn't even notice Amberkit stalking behind him. She bundled straight into his shoulder without a care.

"Ow!" flinched Redpaw, startled. He was surprised at little Amberkit's power.

"Surprise attack!" howled Lionkit as he lunged after his sister. When Redpaw didn't budge, his big blue eyes rounded with disappointment.

"Why, Lionkit, I daresay your sister's gotten _stronger_ than you," meowed Redpaw.

Lionkit's mouth dropped open. He looked from Redpaw and Amberkit with horror.

Redpaw expected Amberkit to shoot back, in the smug way that Leafpaw would. But the shy ginger and white she-kit started licking her own chest fur.

"It can't be!" sputtered Lionkit. A pout replaced his shock, "Liar! You're just saying that to make me mad!" he whined.

"Well, nothing gets past you, tiger."

"I'm _Lionkit!_ And I'm totally stronger!"

"Can you _please_ play with us?" begged Amberkit, pulling at his paw.

"Look guys, I'm not feeling that well today. Maybe some other time."  
"But you're always too busy to play," whined Amberkit. But it was true. Redpaw hardly had any spare time anymore, with all of his excessive apprentice duties.

"Don't worry about it. Go get yourselves some fresh-kill. They just caught a bunch."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" mewed Amberkit. She bounded into the other opening in camp, before scampering back like a mouse. Her jaws carried a plump chipmunk. She was clearly having trouble carrying such a big mouthful.

"What's this?"

"Pleh!" she sputtered, dropping the chipmunk in front of him, "Yuck! I hate chipmunk. This is from Leafpaw. She had to leave right after the patrol, so she asked us to give this to you, since you're sick."

Redpaw placed a paw on the meaty chipmunk's tail. He didn't want it. His stomach was still churning. The rodent alone was probably fat enough to feed two or three cats.

"Um, you guys can eat this, I'm really not hungry," said Redpaw. Amberkit's face fell a little.

"But hey, thanks for bringing it to me."

"You're welcome!" squeaked Amberkit.

"Hey! You two!" a stern call sounded from the nursery. The kits froze.

"Go make yourselves useful and go give some prey to the elders."

Amberkit slumped, "But we were just -"

" _Now!_ Leave him alone. Redpaw's not feeling very well. Don't make me go get your mother…"

"Ok, fine," sighed Amberkit, "Bye, Redpaw."

"You're not stronger, _I'm_ stronger," grumbled Lionkit. He pouted at his paws as he followed his sister.

"Aww," the cat from the nursery meowed, under her breath. She stepped out of the shadow. Redpaw turned to see a slim, pale, ragged-furred queen. She was so thin that her bones shown through her pelt. She held her head low low it lie beneath her shoulders. And her pelt was covered in black stains. This was Robinfoot. Redpaw didn't know her very well

"Oh, um, good morning, Robinfoot," rasped Redpaw.

The strange queen seemed to hardly ever notice her pathetic appearance. She always seemed to keep herself to herself. Maybe that's why no one really knew her that well. But she seldom fell in daze, or stopped being wary of her surroundings. She was always alert, and serious.

"That was adorable," she meowed. StarClan, her mew was scratchier than his, somehow.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, "What did you say?"

"Don't you see it?" she murmured, "That kit really adores you."

"Yeah," said Redpaw, awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. He wasn't sure what to say, "Um, you mean Amberkit?"

"Of course. I mean, look at her. She's always following you around camp, mimicing you when you practice, she really looks up to you. Lionkit, too," replied Robinstep, sitting down next to him, "I hope you mind if I sit here?"

"Of-of course not. And, no, she'd be the only one. Apparently, everyone seems to think I'm a whiny apprentice," sighed Redpaw.

"No. I see an insecure young tom figuring out his place. You angsty apprentices always seem to think your lives are so horrible. Trust me. It'll get better as you grow."

"Oh yeah? Try having Graydust as a mentor."

"No need to. I already have."

Redpaw turned to her in surprise, "Really?" Oh, was this was Graydust's horrible mentoring did? Turn cats into submissive pushovers? Is that what made Robinfoot the way she was?

"Oh, yes. Apprenticeship was a tough time for me, Redpaw, and I don't envy you. I wasn't meant to be a fighter. I hated battle. I hated killing things. And before you suggest it, no, I _absolutely_ did not want to be a medicine cat."

Redpaw's eyes widened with interest, prompting her to go on.

The little queen sighed, "I suppose I'd better tell the whole story. You know my littermate, Hatchnose?"

"Yeah. He can be a be a little crazy," said Redpaw with a nervous laugh. He stiffened as Robinfoot's face hardened.

"Oh, I meant-"

"No no, you're right," she mewed with ease, "Hatchnose is a stuck-up, arrogant, and greedy flea-bag."

"Oh, ok," Redpaw was a little taken back to hear someone bash their littermate. Not that they seemed like littermates...

"Yes. And a real peacock. You can imagine what growing up as his littermate would've been like."

"Well, no. What was it like?"  
"Well, for one, it helps when you're the oldest of the brood. Yep. There were five of us at the time. And I kid you not, back then, the strongest of each litter was praised to spoils, especially in winter, when kits literally have to fight each other for a teat. (It had been a particularly harsh winter that year) After that, it was always about wonder-child Hatchkit. Oh, yes. My siblings and father all naturally believed him to be a rising star. Of course, my mother was too kind to admit favorites. But when she, Father, or anyone look at us as a litter, Hatchnose always stood out, because he was stronger, healthier, deemed to be the most likely to survive. That's partially why he's such a hot-head."

"So, what happened to your other three siblings?"

"They died."

"Oh, s-sorry," he stammered. He felt bad for bringing it up. But it hardly seemed to faze Robinfoot to talk about it.

Redpaw sighed, "I couldn't possibly imagine losing my sister."

"I know. You two have been inseparable since you were born. You're very lucky to have a littermate you can trust, Redpaw. Always have her back."

"Oh, for sure."

"Always?"

"Yep."

"Good. It's important that you do."

Redpaw nodded, "Forgive me for asking, but, what...happened? Was there an outbreak, or famine, or something?"

For once, Robinfoot's normally fox-focused eyes softened. They stared into the distance in a way that Redpaw had never seen before. The little queen grimly turned to him.

"I don't know. I don't know how they died. No matter how it happened, any story like mine would be tragic. It drove my mother into depression, and then death later on. And that caused my father to stop caring. One day, he just left, and never came back. No one's heard from him since. I was only about your age. And...and..."

"And..?" pressed Redpaw

"And, their deaths were because of the dynamics of my siblings. As Hatchkit was praised, we were humbled. As he grew stronger...we got weaker. My littermates got less, so they ate less. And one by one, they all withered away. Maybe that's how they died. But all I know is that was all because of Hatchnose's drive to compete. To be better than his peers. To love survival more than loving us."

Redpaw wasn't sure what to say. So this was how she became how she was. Skinny and dull-pelted. Robinfoot and Hatchnose were still very young warriors. Perhaps she was still recovering from starvatiom, "That's terrible, Robinfoot. I'm sorry," they stood still, as if frost were forming on their pelts.

"Don't get me wrong, Redpaw. Hatchnose _did_ love us, as much as any brother would, and didn't mean for anything that happened to happen, we were just to oblivious to realize," she murmured, she snapped out of her daze, "But that's just nature for you, Redpaw. I just hate to see siblings fall into such traps."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, why not? It's not a secret. But mostly because, it's something I wish I could've told myself all those moons ago. Maybe then, they might've had a chance. But I'm not worried about you. I see the way you and your sister treat each other, how you stand by each other. But the truth is, as apprentices, Hatchnose and I were closer than you and Leafpaw are now."

Redpaw let that sink in. Then he felt a prang of worry.

"Again Redpaw, I'm not worried about you. Nor Lionkit and Amberkit. I just hope MistClan doesn't make the same mistakes."

"But what about since then? We barely ever see you, outside the nursery."

"I'm only about 8 or 9 seasons old, and I've raised a couple of litters. If my place isn't in the nursery, then it isn't in MistClan at all."

"Is that why you sleep outside of camp sometimes?"

Robinfoot flinched, "What makes you think that?"

Oops. Moons ago, Redkit would often wake up to find Robinfoot sneaking out in the middle of the night. Perhaps that was something she didn't want anyone else to know...

"Well, I saw you, sometimes, leaving in the middle of the night, when I was a kit. Where did you go?"

She shook her head, "I can't answer that. But between you and me, I often wonder exactly what my place here is. I don't blame you, if you feel the need question my loyalty to MistClan now. Even I do sometimes. But sometimes, I just wonder..."

Suddenly, Rosefang poked her head around the corner.

"Good afternoon, Robinfoot. Redpaw." she greeted politely.

Robinfoot stiffly bowed her head in greeting.

"How are you feeling, son?" asked Rosefang.

"Better."

"Good. You just stay there. I'll get you something to eat," she turned her fluffy tail.

Robinfoot and Redpaw watched her leave.

"So, um, you said you had Graydust as a mentor, right?" said Redpaw.

Robinfoot neatly folded her paws, "Yes."

"Any advice on surviving his torture methods?" he snorted, half-sarcastically. Although, 'torture' wouldn't be a too far off word to describe his training.

As always, Robinfoot hesitated to answer, "I guess, just, hang in there. I know the intensity of his sessions and his strictness seem terrible, but he's doing it for a reason. I personally don't like him, probably just because fighting isn't my thing."

Redpaw pictured himself at his very first training session. He could just see a young version of Robinfoot, Robinpaw then, shivering in the ice as Graydust threw blow after blow at her.

"Just remember this, Redpaw. If you can survive Graydust's training, then you can survive any battle or method of torture," she purred, jokingly.

"Heh. I like that thinking," purred Redpaw.

Then, Rosefang returned. She held in her mouth what looked like a huge hairball.

Redpaw realized it was just a young squirrel.

"Here, Redpaw. Eat up. You'll need your strength."

Redpaw made a face at it. He hated eating fluffy animals. The hide was so hard to eat through.

Robinfoot noticed his disgust, "Winter's no time to be picky, boy. Eat up," she whispered as she passed him. He watched her slink away, close to the ground. She crept back into the shadows of the nursery, into what she normally was. Out of sight.

/

 **I know, not very interesting chapter this week. Next week should be better. Sorry for not updating for a few weeks, and having a couple "half-chapters" before that. The end of the quarter at my school has been a mess :) Next week I'll update by either Tuesday or Thursday this time. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 10

"Bloodied and bruised, it would seem to any ordinary cat that Stagstar had lost. Retreat would have been the wise answer. But just you try telling that to him, with the lives of his clanmates on the line! No. Rather, he did the unthinkable, rearing up to attack once more. And, without a twinge of mercy, Stagstar struck!"

Lionkit and Amberkit flinched, with wide, wondrous eyes. Their tails twitched with anticipation.

Surrounding them, all huddled up in the MistClan den were the elders, Redpaw and Leafpaw, Brookshadow and Adderfoot, Rosefang and Whiteleaf, and most of the warriors. Tigerfall huddled between Spicefur and Brindlewillow.

Elders were known for their lendendary stories among the warrior clans. But unlike the others, MistClan's elders Mothberry and Cedarheart weren't particularly fond of storytelling. But it was considered a treat whenever Russetear decided to share one of his epic tales, especially during leaf-bare.

Sure enough, as quickly as Russetear announced he would tell some stories, (After some persistent begging from Amberkit and Lionkit) everyone in camp was sure to know. The youngest warriors skipped their night patrols so they could pile into the MistClan den, snuggle up and listen.

Redpaw glanced around the warm MistClan den. All of the young warriors were here, huddled in one big bunch.

In fact, most everyone was here listening, other than some warriors on Stoneflower's night patrol, and Barksky, of course. He craned his neck, and sure enough, Robinfoot was nowhere to be seen.

Just as Redpaw came to this conclusion, he spotted the ragged pelt of Robinfoot bashfully creeping in. She found a single spot to herself. Then, she sat up straight and neatly folded her paws, the way she always did. They exchanged a polite nod and a smile.

Russetear went on.

"Yes, and then, he swiped his mighty paw, straight into the brute's eye," he lifted his paw to emphasize, "The most precise blow MistClan's ever seen. The demon badger's menacing red eye filled with more red tears. It bellowed out, and threw Stagstar. It thrashed around blind in pain, like a coon-tempered horse. Finally, the monster ran away into the shadows, never to be seen again. Some say it's still out there, mercilessly hunting for cats to eat. But after encountering Stagstar," he chuckled, "that demon would be a fool to even dare."

Russetear ended his tale dramatically, and everyone sat in awe.

Lionkit bounced, "Then what happened?"  
"As you'd expect," hummed Russestear, "After a battle well fought, the lives whom he saved hailed him a hero. And the badgers never dared to set foot on his land again."

Lionkit and Amberkit's tails swished with the satisfaction of a happy ending.

"Was Stagstar the greatest cat ever?" asked Amberkit.

Russetear chuckled, "I suppose that's a matter of opinion, young one. But anyone can become a hero, or go down in history."  
Amberkit beamed, "Could I be a hero one day?"

"Why, of course," exclaimed Mothberry, who lie next to Cedarheart, "All it takes is some loyalty, courage and commitment," her gaze shifted the group of young warriors, "Things that some cats never learn."

Adderfoot and Brookshadow scowled.

Lionkit pushed his sister, "One day, _I'm_ going to be the greatest hero MistClan's ever seen! As great as Stagstar!" he then started pawing at air, as if imagining clawing a badger's eyes out.

"Tell another story, Russetear!" mewed Amberkit.

"Nah. I don't want to upstage any other storytellers out there. Who else has a story? Anyone? How about you, Mothberry? Cedarheart?"

His fellow elders briskly shook their heads.

Mothberry hissed, "You just try making me, Russetear."

"I'll tell a story!" piped Amberkit.

Everyone went silent. Russetear smiled, "Spendid. Go on, then."

The ginger and white she-kit stood up in front of her clanmates. As soon as she did, her face immediately fell. Her whiskers trembled. She turned to her mother Whiteleaf, who only nodded her on.

Amberkit took a deep breath, "Ok. Once upon a time," she stuttered, her voice shaking, "Long ago, there was a she-cat," she gulped, "...named Dapplepaw. And she was the best apprentice in MistClan. She was the best at hunting, and the best at fighting, but no one thought she would be a good warrior because she didn't...because she didn't talk that much," her voice started to steady, "One day, she went on a patrol with some really tough warriors. On the border, they found a fox!"

Lionkit's eyes locked in. He always got excited at the sound of a threat in a story.

"The tough warriors almost attacked the intruder. But before they could, Dapplepaw realized that the fox was a baby fox, and that it was all alone and helpless."

Lionkit cocked his head.

"So right before the warriors attacked, she stepped in their way, and wouldn't let them pass. She told them it wasn't fair, because the baby fox was innocent, and didn't do anything to them. But the warriors didn't listen to her. They pushed her out of the way, and attacked the poor little fox. Afterwards, the warriors were mad at her. They told her she couldn't come home until she hunted enough food for everyone."

" _I can relate,_ " whispered Redpaw. Leafpaw nudged him to be quiet.

Amberkit beamed. She was starting to feel a little momentum in her storytelling, "Then, when she went away from them, she found the baby fox. She was hurt, so Dapplepaw nursed her back to health. Once she was better, the fox thanked Dapplepaw for helping her, and standing up for her. And in return, the fox revealed-"

"What's the fox's name?" interrupted Lionkit loudly. His mother shot him a look.

Amberkit frowned, "Foxy."

"Oh, ok."

"Anyways," huffed Amberkit, "'Foxy' decided that in return for her help, she revealed that the DarkClan cats were planning to attack! So once Foxy found her mother, Dapplepaw ran, she raced back to camp, to tell her clanmates! No one believed her at first. They were mean, and called her…" she hesitated, "Mouse-brained. At first she was worried that DarkClan would win their attack. But then, the leader, I don't know, Miststar, decided that they should believe her, and prepared for battle. When DarkClan did attack, they were ready and won the battle! And then, they decided that Dapplepaw was a hero, and that they should listen to her. The end," Amberkit took a sigh of relief.

As soon as she finished her little story, everyone meowed their gentle praise.

"Yay!"

"Aw, good story, Amberkit!" said Brindlewillow.

"You'll make a good storyteller one day," purred Cedarheart.

"Really, come on guys. In real life, any fox should be driven out. The injured ones would be the most vicious. Even the baby ones, because 'baby' foxes will grow into 'predatory' foxes, for your information. And no one's ever won a war by 'being nice,'" remarked Adderfoot.

Amberkit looked down.

"Oh, for StarClan's sake, Adderfoot, she's like three moons old!" hissed Leafpaw.

"Right," agreed Russetear, "The point is the moral-the moral is that bravery comes in all forms, and you should stand up for what you believe in. Right, Amberkit?"

The she-kit nodded briskly.

After the praise died down, the little kitten hurried away from the center, plopping down right next to her brother.

"Right then. Who's next?" asked Russetear, "Come on, you guys. Amberkit can't be the only one brave enough to come up here. Anyone? Spottedstar? How about you?"

All heads turned to Spottedstar, who was stepping over cats to find a spot to sit. The warriors around her immediately made way for her.

"Oh no, Russetear, I couldn't possibly-"

"Come on!" urged Russetear, "Surely our leader has a tale to share for all of us to hear."

The MistClan cats quietly meowed their encouragement, pressing her on.

"T-true. But I'm really no storyteller…"

"It's ok, Spottedstar!"

"Tell us a story!"

"You already have our respect."

Amberkit looked up to her, with her big blue eyes, "Pleeeese, Spottedstar?"

Spottedstar glanced around. Everyone was looking to her hopefully. Finally, she sighed and rolled her eyes playfully, "Oh, alright. But, I don't know any stories."

"Just tell us about one of _your_ stories," suggested Cloudstream, "You know, from your past."

"Spottedstar," rumbled the warm, deep voice of Cedarheart, "Tell them about how you helped those DarkClan cats, all those moons ago. I just love it."

Spottedstar nodded, "Well, I suppose if you really want me to, it wouldn't hurt."

Her clanmates mewed their approval.

Spottedstar gracefully made her way to the center of the den. She cast a glance across them all.

"Well, the first thing you need to know is that this story in particular happened a very long time ago. It was a very different world. Things have changed. Values have shifted. And luckily, for the better. I was a newly fledged warrior at the time. Spottedfur, at the time. In my opinion, MistClan was always ahead of the other clans morally. Cedarheart will tell you, it's the only clan in my or his lifetime that has gone without any big secrets, or really bad crimes. But especially back then, things weren't perfect. Back then, she-cats were treated very differently. About half of them never even spent one night in the warriors den, and she-warriors were considered weaker, and not a ferocious."

"You try telling that to a queen when someone comes in between her and her kit!" someone yowled.

The numerous she-warriors in the den howled their approval.

"Yes, that's all true. I suppose cats simply thought differently back then. I'm getting off-topic. Now, believing that she-cats are inferior to toms is very frowned upon now, seeing as the majority of MistClan are she-cats. but that's nothing compared to some of the policies of the other clans. For example, it used to be more acceptable to deny the warrior code in times of famine.

"Back then, when MistClan cats became warriors, they would receive a mission or task of some sort, I guess to be celebrational. And get this, the old leader, Fallowstar, sent me _into_ DarkClan territory, to spy on them, and decide whether they were stealing our food."

Lionkit's jaw dropped, "You were on a _spy_ mission?"

"Yes, yes I was. But once I slipped through the borders and began to watch their camp, I discovered something even worse."

"Prey-stealing?" suggested Spicefur. Spottedstar locked eyes with the young warrior, "No. I found that DarkClan was using deception and blackmail to force weak members, and innocent outsiders into their labor."

The young warriors and apprentices went silent. No one expected that one. Spottedstar shook her head.

"Disgraceful. Of course, knowing how the authority in my clan back then worked, I knew that no one back home would care the slightest, as long as they kept their paws off our territory. They only wanted to know whether DarkClan were thieves or not. So I came back home, reported no intrusion, and went to bed. But I couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about the nursing kittypet mothers desperate to feed their children. The naive young loners being manipulated. The frail old elders trembling for their lives as they were forced upon work no cat their age could possibly handle. I had to do something.

"With Stoneflower's help, we decided to risk our reputations, and possibly our lives to get to the bottom of this. We went back to DarkClan, and discovered that majority of the workers and hunters were being held against their own will. Feeling young, and obligated to do something about it, Stoneflower and I snuck into DarkClan, once a moon, and smuggled kittypet prisoners out of their hold."

"But why would you risk your tails, just to save a handful of twoleg pets?" retorted Brookshadow.

Spottedstar nodded, "A fair question. We simply believed that it was unjust to keep cats prisoners, even kittypets and loners. Many still believe our missions weren't worth it."

"But why?" asked Leafpaw.

"Well, because, we got caught. About five moons after we started. DarkClan warriors started to notice our scents, even though we tried our hardest to conceal them. When Stoneflower and I returned the following moon, they were ready. The DarkClan warriors brutalized and captured us. We were very lucky that they decided to show us mercy, and sent us home in exchange of MistClan prey, rather than just killing us. I'll tell you, neither of us saw the outside of MistClan camp for a whole moon after that fiasco," she shook her head, "Maybe it was mouse-brained of us. Maybe they were right when they said we shouldn't have done it. But let me tell you this," she leaned in, "In total, we rescued 16 cats from what was practically slavery, including five kits, and several unborn ones.

"In the end, it's up to you whether you think we did the right thing or not. But never let the judgment of others cloud your own," she finished.

Redpaw tried to meet Leafpaw's gaze, but she was too busy staring at her paws. Redpaw knew she was thinking about their decision not to report Leafstorm.

"Ah," purred Cedarheart, "One of my favorites. I simply love to hear you tell your stories, Spottedstar."

"And accurate," spat Mothberry, "Oh, those DarkClan cats can be nasty. Never trust a clan named after the shadows they lurk in.

Suddenly, another handful of cats poured into the MistClan den. They included Stoneflower, Hatchnose, Graydust, Swiftstem, Kestrelbreeze and Smokeclaw.

"Well," meowed a pleasantly suprised Swiftstem, "What's going on in here?"

"We're listening to stories!" exclaimed Lionkit, "Do you want to hear one with us?"

"Actually, I believe it's time for two little warriors-to-be to go to bed," said Whiteleaf, their mother.

"Awww," they sighed.

"But we're all comfy here!" whined Lionkit, sitting down stubbornly.

"We can have a sleepover

"And you'll be just as comfy in your actual nest, now come on, the warriors don't want you taking up their room."

Redpaw got up and stretched. He prepared to return to the apprentice section of the MistClan den.

Hatchnose burst in, his face boiling, "Spottedstar!" he yelled.

"Hmm?" What's wrong?"

He stormed up to her, "You will not believe what we found our patrol."

"We found an intruder, a DarkClan tom, by the looks of him," added Stoneflower.

Redpaw and Leafpaw locked glances.

"What did he look like?" someone asked.

"None of us got a good look at him, but he had brown fur, and yes, I do concur by the scent that it was definitely DarkClan," clarified Graydust.

Hatchnose bared his teeth, "I'm telling you, this has gone far enough! First the scents, and now an actual sighting! You _must_ do something about this, Spottedstar."

Spottedstar thought for a second, "Stoneflower, what do you advise?"

"I say we send someone to capture the piece of crowfood. If he really is from DarkClan, then catching up to him before he gets home should be no problem. Let's see what this dark-rat is doing straying so far from his nest at this hour."

Spottedstar nodded, "Then so be it. Smokeclaw, Kestrelbreeze, and Swiftstem! I send you to capture the trespasser, _only_ if you find him to be a clan cat. And if he gets to his own territory before you catch him, then let him go, and _do not_ trespass into DarkClan grounds. Bring him back to camp, if you can."

With a dutiful nod, the three warriors were off.

Redpaw bumped into Leafpaw, "Um, Leafpaw?"

Her face curled with fear, "You don't think that could be…"

"It is _."_ said Redpaw, "Apparently, Leafstorm wasn't telling us the whole truth."

"Well, I sure hope it's not him," she fretted.

"Like I said, don't worry. They have nothing against us. I mean, what are the odds they even catch him?"

"True."

They quickly fell into an awkward silence.

"So...how are you feeling? Still painful?" asked Leafpaw.

"Better."

"Good."

"Leafpaw?"

"Yeah?"  
"On that day last week, when I got sick, where were you for most of the day? Right after the hunting patrol?"

She turned away, "Nothing."

Redpaw sighed, "What were you doing?"  
"Just…hanging out."

"With who?" pressed Redpaw.

Leafpaw said nothing.

"With _who?_ " he repeated.

She shook her head, "Fine. I was out walking with Adderfoot and Brookshadow."

" _What?_ But why? Leafpaw, you can't trust them!"

She stuck her nose up defiantly, "Why not?"

"Well, let's see, Adderfoot is a total jerk, Brookshadow _threatened_ you, Adderfoot tried to _kill_ me…"

"Redpaw, he wasn't trying to kill you!"

"Really. And I suppose _they_ told you this?"

"Yes! And I trust him-them," she corrected herself, looking away, "Redpaw," she sighed, "I think I like him."

"Of course you do."  
"I'm _not joking_ ," spat Leafpaw, "I know what he did, but, that was moons ago."

Redpaw looked at her, dumbfounded, "Two moons? You think two moons just fixes everything?"

"Look, Redpaw, that was probably just your dumb rivalry. I've been talking with them for a while, they don't even care about Leafstorm! It shouldn't bother you if me and Adderfoot are...together."

"I don't like this."

"I know you don't."

The fact started to settle in Redpaw, he started to tremble with annoyance, "He's _way_ too old for you. And...and...you can't trust him! _Or_ Brookshadow! How can they even be your _friends_? I can't allow this."

Leafpaw bristled, "Um, no. You can't tell me what to do. You're just... _so_ judgmental, all the time! you can't just tell me how to live my social life!"

Still shaking with anger, Redpaw realized that there was no swaying his sister. He bared his teeth, "Fine. Trust whoever you want. We'll see where everyone's loyalties lie when they capture Leafstorm. We'll see what your idiot boyfriend thinks of you then."

Was that worry teetering in her eyes?

Leafpaw's hint of doubt was overturned by fury, "How dare you, you, you suggest they'd betray me? Well, hear this: Say they do backstab me, or turn me in, or whatever. Just know, if I go down, you go down with me," she silently hissed.

Redpaw shook it off. She probably didn't mean it.

But it still hurt.

 **As always, thank you all for reading. Late updating again, I know, but I only got home from our Thanksgiving trip on Sunday. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday week!**


	12. Chapter 11

It was a gray, unpleasant kind of day.

By this point, the snow was melting so steadily that no one could walk anywhere without soaking their paws. Yet, the winds were still bitterly cold, creating an uncomfortable situation for everyone.

Redpaw's paws gripped the slippery rock beneath him. It was hardly any use, as he could feel his pads slipping against the surface.

It was battle training. And as always, Graydust was making him fight for his life. Today, the challenge was to fight his mentor in the Boulderfield, without touching the ground. (Boulderfield was a grassy valley scattered with stones and large rocks.)

Now that newleaf was on the horizon, and all the snow was melting, the rocks in the Boulderfield became wet with moss and grime.

Graydust saw this as the perfect training opportunity. Now, Graydust and Redpaw were mock battling, maneuvering from boulder to boulder, while their claws skidded across the ungraspable stone.

It was the morning after Russetear had told his stories.

That dawn, before they had left for training, Stoneflower and her patrol still hadn't arrived back from chasing the intruders. While jogging halfway to DarkClan and back was no hike, some cats had begun to worry, since they were still gone all night with no trace of their return.

"You look like a pup on the ice, Redpaw! Flex your back legs. Come on," he lowered his haunches, "Pretend I'm a CloudClan warrior."

Redpaw realized that Graydust was so stern, that this half-hearted comment was probably the most jokingly Graydust would ever act in front of him. Redpaw couldn't help but smile at this fact.

"What's so funny?" he snapped.

"Nothing," he mused, smirking, "I was just thinking about your sense of humor. I believe this is the first time I've ever seen you do something even remotely funny."

Graydust bared his teeth, "Does it look like I'm joking?"

"Well, no."

"Right. And your enemies won't be, either. Now focus!" and with that, Graydust pounced from his perch into the air at Redpaw's rock.

Redpaw prepared to perform the front-forward kick that they had been practicing that particular day. But instead of attacking, Graydust flexed his airborne stride and landed next to his apprentice.

"Hey- what?"

The next thing he knew, Redpaw was lying facedown in a dirty pile of snow. He gagged on the slush.

"Eck! Pleh!" he retched, "Graydust, I know you love being unpredictable for the sake of simulating battle, but why do you always do stuff like that?," he glanced up, " _How_ did you do that?"

"Easy. Cats with narrow focus have wide blindspots. Don't expect me to do the same attack over and over again when you _can't pay attention_."

Redpaw's gaze looked away and back, "How do you find my blindspot?"

"Finding one's blindspot? Well, it depends on the animal. Cats are the trickiest, but generally, it's about a paws-length away from the tip of their whiskers. And even if you do manage to find it, you only have about a splinter of a second to act on it," his eyes flickered to meet his, "Unless your victim happens to be a lazy apprentice with bees in his brain."

Redpaw rolled his eyes.

"Now, attack me, from below!" he barked.

After some difficult attacks and complicated maneuvers, Graydust let his apprentice have the rare breather. While catching his breath, Redpaw thought of something.

"Hey, isn't the gathering in a few days?"

"Indeed."

Redpaw shrugged, "So…? Are we going?

"Not you. You still have five days of carrying out the duties Spottedstar punished you with.

Redpaw groaned, "Please? Spottedstar's letting Adderfoot get to go! I'll do dawn patrols, for a half- I mean, quarter-moon!" Redpaw instantly regretted putting that idea in Graydust's head.

"Redpaw, you broke our rules, and you got punished. Whether you like it or not, _that's_ how it works around here. And you will respect it," Redpaw was about to speak, but Graydust interrupted, "And so help me, if you say one more thing about how the fight wasn't your fault, or about how horrible of a mentor I am, I will personally make your muzzle look like Hatchnose's."

Redpaw cringed with anger. Graydust had been the most bitter about the fight with Adderfoot. But why should he be further punishing him for something he _didn't even do?_

"I wish anyone else could've been my mentor," Redpaw whispered, not quietly enough.

Suddenly, Redpaw felt open, red-hot pain scratch the side of his cheek. He winced, and felt blood welling at the wound. He looked up at his mentor in shock.

"I don't bluff," he seethed, "You are dismissed."

Graydust then perched himself upon a bounder, gazing away from him.

Redpaw froze at first. Heart twisting with both anger and guilt, he darted away.

/

Redpaw's paws miserably sunk in the muggy grass, squishing as he walked.

His cut hurt. But did he deserve it?

No. Of course not.

Graydust is just a foxheart.

Redpaw's thoughts barely reassured him

 _When I get back, I'm going straight to Spottedstar. Yes. I'll tell her. Then they'll see. They'll see Graydust for the dirt-faced fleabag he really..._

His thoughts were cut off. As he approached the hills the made up their camp, he heard a startling roar uprise from the camp walls. It followed by a chorus of angry outbursts and growls and snarls.

Redpaw bounded faster. What in the name of StarClan was happening?

As Redpaw turned the corner and crept into camp, he saw his clanmates in a crowd, the smell of controversy in the air.

Redpaw nudged his was through the crowd. Everyone seemed either distraught, confused, or riled up. StarClan, had Stoneflower's patrol finally returned?

As Redpaw slithered between Spicefur and Tigerfall, he braced himself for what he was about to see.

"What are _they_ doing here?" someone hissed.

"Mouse-hearted cowards!"

"Intruders!"

Finally, Redpaw saw the center of the crowd. And much to his dread, the prisoners were a brown tabby tom he had never seen before carrying the scent of DarkClan, and Leafstorm.

The ranting cats seemed to disagree over what to do with the prisoners. Some wanted them cast out. Others wanted them forced into revealing their motives. Adderdoot jokingly hollered above the others that they should be executed, but an older warrior quickly shut him up with a cuff to the muzzle

Meanwhile Leafstorm and the apprentice were shrinking into each other with fear. Their tails were tucked between their legs and their fur stood up on end. Their eyes were wide. They weren't sure what to make of being surrounded by screaming cats.

A hush swept over everyone, and Stoneflower rose to stand where Spottedstar normally stood.

She locked a ferocious glare with the prisoner DarkClan cats, "You two were spotted last night, deliberately crossing our border, and when you were caught and asked to explain, you fled," she hissed, "Last night, you were caught by my patrol traveling between CloudClan and LochClan. Now explain yourselves, and tell us who you are."

Leafstorm raised his head, "We refuse to address anyone except Spottedstar."

"Well, you'll have to address _me_ for now. Spottedstar out," snarled Stoneflower.

The apprentice was about to shoot back, but was silenced by Leafstorm's stern glare.

"Speak," grumbled Smokeclaw.

Leafstorm blinked.

"Talk, DarkClan scum!" yowled Hatchnose.

"Shut up, Hatchnose."

Redpaw could feel his clanmates' calm, hostile growls, rippling from their throats.

Again, Leafstorm locked eyes with Stoneflower defiantly.

"Wait a second, I've those two before," called someone. Cloudstream wove through the crowd, to the front. She raised her head gracefully, "You," she said, shooting a look at Leafstorm, "You're Leafstorm. Duskstar's little runaway snitch. I thought your days as a messenger were numbered."

"A spy!" someone jibed.

"Don't let him go!"

Leafstorm smirked.

"And this must your new apprentice, Scarpaw."

" _That's an_ apprentice?" whispered someone. Scarpaw was pretty big for a 'new' apprentice.

Cloudstream narrowed her blue eyes, "Hmm. I'd say he's grown quite a bit. A moon ago he was smaller than a hare..."

Scarpaw folded his ears back.

Everyone laughed, but Redpaw could see Leafpaw trembling.

 _Leafpaw. Leafpaw!_

Thoughts spinning, Redpaw pushed his way over to his sister.

 _She's probably scared out of her mind…_

Everyone was starting to really fill with rage.

"Let them have it!"

"Attack them!"

"No way, _get rid_ of them!"

Stoneflower howled a bizarre scream. Everyone stopped to look up to her. Icy blue eyes narrowing in frustration, she clenched her claws against the stump she stood on so hard it made Redpaw's ears crawl.

"Neither of you are willing to talk? Ok. Fine. Perfectly fine," she raised her chin, "These enemies, whom have ignored the code and our boundaries, shall not leave our camp walls. They will remain our prisoners until Spottedstar says otherwise, _or_ they decide to tell us why they purposely intruded on our territory."

By this point, Scarpaw just lost it. He clawed the ground and barreled past his mentor, "You can't do that to us! Let us go, Crowhearts! DarkClan won't stand for this!"

"Spottedstar isn't here," Stoneflower retorted, "She and Barksky left this morning, which makes me in charge."

 _Spottedstar and Barksky gone?_ Thought Redpaw, _Why would they leave? It wasn't anywhere near the halfmoon, and Redpaw didn't recall Spottedsky nor Barksky announcing this._

Evidently, this was news to many others as well. Their brows formed confused frowns. Some of the queens whispered suspiciously to one another.

"I...I beg your pardon, Stoneflower. Please ignore my young apprentice's outburst," squeaked Leafstorm nervously. He shot a subtle look at Scarpaw with a slight edge to his voice, "He can can be a real _mousebrain_ sometimes."

Graydust, Smokeclaw and Hatchnose were surrounding the prisoners, eagerly awaiting for the order.

Finally, Stoneflower narrowed her eyes once more, and nodded to them. "Yes. You three, escort them to their new _quarters_."

As Leafstorm and Scarpaw were led away, they were marred by more insults and jeers. They slunk away with their bellies close to the ground.

Leafstorm gritted his teeth, showing no emotion. Scarpaw, however, trailed him with panic in his eyes, shaking frantically.

After they were out of sight, the MistClan cats only erupted into more prattling.

"Are there birds in your brain, Stoneflower?! What in the name of StarClan are you thinking, bringing two cats, _DarkClan,_ of all cats, and keeping them in the heart of our land? What? You think it's _wise_ to keep them in the proximity of us elders? And what about the kits?" ranted Mothberry. Russetear and Cedarheart appeared to agree with her.

At her stern words, Redpaw and Leafpaw huddled together as the arguments started to rise.

Whiteleaf wrapped her tail around Amberkit and Lionkit.

"Hey! Listen to me!" yowled Stoneflower. Everyone fell silent.

"I know what I'm doing. We are all safe. As long as we have prisoners within our walls, three warriors will be on duty to guard them at all times.

Camp was too loud to whisper to each other, so Leafpaw mouthed the words, _What do we do?_ Redpaw shrugged and looked away. What was there to do? Leafstorm crossed the border, _again,_ and then MistClan warriors caught him. Who cares if he was just trying to protect DarkClan's suspicious secrets? Leafstorm was fresh out of excuses for trespassing.

"So, what are we going to do about this? Let DarkClan get away with it?" boomed Brookshadow.

Hatchnose moved in closer to his deputy, "Noble Stoneflower, DarkClan has viciously stepped on and disreguarded our boundaries, several times now. I suggest we teach them a lesson."

Stoneflower thought for a second, allowing his words to seep in, "You're right," she turned to adress MistClan, "DarkClan has tested our tolerance one too many times. We must show them that they can't just cross our borders as they please, and expect us to just sit here watching!"

MistClan howled in agreement.

Redpaw and Leafpaw gulped and turned to each other.

"We will attack them. Immediately!"

While most of the cats cheered, A few cats frowned. Tigerfall and Robinfoot were among them.

Rosefang and Whiteleaf exchanged nervous looks.

"This is madness, Stoneflower! First the hostages, and now this?" argued Rosefang.

Stoneflower ignored her, "Hatchnose, Brindlewillow, and Brookshadow, you three watch the intruders and guard the camp. Smokeclaw, Kestrelbreeze, Graydust, Swiftstem, Redpaw, Leafpaw and Spicefur, prepare for DarkClan.

Adderfoot pouted. He was disappointed at the miss of action.

Now, Leafpaw looked as horrified as ever. Without worrying about their clanmates' rallying, the siblings raced into the MistClan den. Leafpaw grabbed him by the scruff and forced him in.

"Let go, you stupid hairball-"

"Uhg, Redpaw, this is terrible! We're screwed, what are we going to do? Please tell me you have an idea."

Redpaw rolled his eyes, "Right. So _now_ you want my help."

"Look, I'm sorry you hate my friends, but we're in this together, Redpaw."

"No, Leafpaw, we're not," he snarled, "If you ask me, Leafstorm's getting what he deserves. You know what, if you really need it, then why don't you ask _Adderfoot_ for help?"  
"What? I'm not talking about _Leafstorm._ I'm talking about the battle."

Redpaw's glare relaxed a little, "Oh, ok. What's wrong?"

She frowned, "I'm surprised you're going through with this, with your, condition."

"I'll be fine. If it happens me clanmates will save me. What are _you_ worried about?"

"I'm going to die."

"Oh please, stop being so dramatic. You know that's not true. I know you'll do-"

"No, actually. You don't know. You haven't seen my training sessions," she turned away, "It's not going well at all."

Redpaw naturally pitied her. But was she being honest, or searching attention?

"Leafpaw, I can protect you. Your awesome mentor Swiftstem can help you. Heck, you have an _entire clan_ to protect you!"  
Leafpaw only shook her head, "No. I can't."

"So, you're just going to run from your battles now? Not fight them?" barked Redpaw  
"Redpaw, Stoneflower's completely lost her mind! This battle is pointless, and I'm not ready."

"Where's your loyalty, Leafpaw?"

"Oh, here you go, about the clan loyalty, and bravery, and heroism, and leaders!," she sighed, "Ever since you became Graydust's apprentice, all you've cared about is gaining your clanmate's trust so that you can be leader one day. All you care about is popularity and respect. But guess what? I care about justice. So no. I will _not_ fight this battle

Before Redpaw could stop her, she fled the den.

"Wait, Leafpaw!"

 _Where did all of that come from?_ He thought, _She's just scared of battle._

Redpaw followed her out. Leafpaw bounded up to her mentor. After some brief talking and nodding, Leafpaw crawled away, low on her haunches. Redpaw glowered when he saw her go to Adderfoot

Eyeing his sister, Redpaw immediately went to Swiftstem.

"Um, Swiftstem?" Redpaw spoke.

"Oh, hello, Redpaw," he rolled his eyes teasingly, "Trying to get out of battle, too?"

"What? No, of course not! Is that was Leafpaw did?" Redpaw urged.

Swiftstem sighed and watched her disappear into her den, "She claims to have a cold, and isn't in good condition to fight. But, she's seemed fine all day, up until now. But I don't blame her." the ginger tom squinted at him, "What happened to you? Snag your muzzle?"

Redpaw had completely forgotten about the scratch. He wiped away the blood and opened his mouth to respond.

Suddenly, sharp howl rose over camp, echoing off the walls and making them all jump.

"Warriors! To me! Time to go avenge our borders!" yowled Stoneflower.

The warriors chosen to go raged their battle cries, and flooded out of camp on their way to battle.

"This'll have to wait, Redpaw. Come, let's walk together," assured Swiftstem.

And so, Swiftstem and Redpaw jogged out of camp behind the battle patrol. Redpaw noticed that several MistClan elders, warriors queens cast them uneasy looks. Redpaw turned back one last time, only to see Leafpaw staring straight at him, head down, being comforted by Adderfoot.

/

 **Man, I'm getting worse at updating on time! But after a busy week, I've finally finished this chapter. And today is a snow day for me, so hopefully I can start the next couple of chapters and update on time for once. Who do you think will win in battle? And what do you think will happen to Leafstorm?**

 **Oh yeah, and thank you to everyone that's been giving me criticism and suggestions to improve my story. It** _ **really**_ **helps to get other people's opinions, good or bad. And as always, thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Onward, warriors of MistClan!" barked Stoneflower.

The warriors marching behind their deputy yowled an energized response. Up damp snowy hills and marsh-like valleys they jogged. Their energy rode off of the momentum of Leafstorm's capture.

Redpaw puffed out a giant gasp for air. Stoneflower was moving her patrol so fast, that Redpaw had been out of breath since they had crossed the MistClan border. He lagged behind the rest.

"Couldn't we go...a little...slower?" he staggered.

"Not a chance. DarkClan's far enough as it is. We'll take a break when we come to The Falls," replied Stoneflower from the front.

 _The Falls?_ _What are the Falls?_

"What are the falls?" he asked.

Swiftstem, who wasn't as far ahead of him, lifted his muzzle to call back, "It's a waterfall, along the cliffs of the CloudClan. I'd say it's probably the halfway point of this journey."

Redpaw was anxious and curious. His very first battle! He couldn't believe it. He was excited enough just by venturing outside of his territory. And what a sight it had been so far!

The band had been traveling along the CloudClan-LochClan border. A risky move. Even though traveling along the borders was generally acceptable among the clans, CloudClan in particular had been especially hostile to MistClan ever since the confrontation a moon back.

 _They won't be only ones for long,_ thought Redpaw.

Over time, the group's pace slowed, much to Redpaw's relief. For hours they trekked along the edge of CloudClan's hills and LochClan's forests.

Redpaw peered over the side of the edge. It wasn't a cliff, but the wet, grassy slope was still very steep and a long ways down.

After a few hours of walking, a little after mid-afternoon, they came to and passed with hardly a break. But Redpaw was too preoccupied in his own thinking to care. It were as if he was standing between two worlds. On his right, the sights of stretching hills and dipping valleys lie. CloudClan. On his left, at the bottom of the ridge they walked, the thick forest that housed the LochClan cats was growing and budding with life. Just from the view and the smells, their forest was flourishing with herbs and animals.

In his excitement, Redpaw's queasy stomach tossed him a string of second thoughts.

 _I'm on the road to battle! I'm going into battle! Oh, StarClan, I'm going into battle…_

Redpaw's paws began to tremble. This could go horribly wrong. Battles are serious. There's no do-overs in combat. Should Redpaw make one error, a paw-slip, and it could be all over.

Thinking about a repeat of the raccoon attack made him flinch.

Swiftstem caught Redpaw's eye. He smirked and chuckled when he saw his wild eyes and shaky stance.

"Nervous?"

"Yep," squeaked Redpaw, nodding.

"Well, I don't blame you. Even the most elite, organized sneak attacks can be taken away with horrible casualties and permanent wounds."

Redpaw didn't respond.

"Yeah. When I was your age, rumor had it that DarkClan cats showed no mercy to any cat who dared set foot on their land."

Redpaw shot him a look.

"Oh, and you should've heard the elders' tales back in the day. They say that they would mob lone enemy cats to death. Maim their intruders…"

"Swiftstem, you're not making me feel better."

"Well, I have a feeling your mentor would rip my ears off if I did."

"True," he agreed.

"Take it from me, Redpaw. Smart warriors are scared when they have to be. It tells them whether they should hold their ground or flee. But pure anxiety and nervousness can be just as dangerous as an enemy's claws," explained Swiftstem.

Redpaw shrugged, "I mean, that makes total sense and all, Swifstem. But I can't just decide to stop being worried."

"Maybe. But if you don't, then in the seconds you have to think during battle, all those hours of work, focus and practice will go to waste. Don't over think every move. Just think about being aggressive, and fight smart," mewed Swiftstem

"Well, easier said than done," shrugged Redpaw.

The patrol continued a little while way along the edge of the highlands.

Finally, a little past sunhigh, the hills of the highlands started to fade away. The acacias and oaks began to be replaced by firs and spruces, as they neared the chilling DarkClan territory.

Redpaw took a deep breath, intaking the smell of dampness and melting of snow.

He noticed that the closer they came to their raid, the more chemistry and energy seemed to course through his clanmates. They would chatter and laugh. Bump up against one another and be affectionate. Redpaw felt stiff, and awkward walking way at the back of the pack. He almost felt left out.

As the the DarkClan woodlands finally drew upon the horizon, the gorgeous colors of sunset were pouring across the sky.

"Hey, are we going to get there before twilight?" he asked.

"No way," mewed Smokeclaw, "This will be a night battle."

Redpaw gulped.

About a half hour later, it was time to cross the border, into their shadowy wood.

As the patrol entered the dark forest, as the shadows of the trees overtook their eyelines. Redpaw silently wished that this day could be over.

"Are we close?" he whispered to the nearest warrior.

In the dark, Redpaw suddenly felt the sensitivity of his whiskers guiding him, rather than his sight.

He looked up at the unwelcoming black branches, blocking out the light. He winced as he tripped on a root.

"Watch where you're going!" mused Spicefur

"Quiet! We're on DarkClan turf," whispered Graydust.

With a signal, Stoneflower gathered up her patrol into a clowder. She checked over her shoulder. Following her lead, the rest of the patrol sniffed the air and watched for cats.

"False alarm. The coast is clear," she reassured. Everyone relaxed, "Um, you! Smokeclaw! Scout ahead. That way," she gestured to the north, "Their patrols come from that way. Stay out of sight. Come back to report once you've seen a DarkClan cat."

"Yes, Stoneflower," he replied. Without another word, the black warrior leapt away into the shadows.

As the sound of Smokeclaw's pawsteps faded away, the patrol huddled around to sit.

"You can relax for a few minutes. Who knows how long he'll be gone," Swiftstem whispered into Redpaw's ear. He sighed shakily.

As the sound of Smokeclaw's slick pawsteps faded away, Stoneflower turned to her cats. Her muscles were rippling with anticipation. Her sharp eyes narrowed as hse glanced at each of her soldiers, "Now everyone," she rumbled, "We are here for one reason, and one reason only. To send them a message. That MistClan won't stand for their code-breaking. Let _me_ do the talking," her slitted eyes bounced between Graydust and Swiftstem, who looked at each other. Stoneflower rolled her eyes, "Just as I discussed with you all before. Go along with what I say. Same attack signal as before. Swiftstem, Kestrelbreeze, you two be at my flanks when we attack. Now," Stoneflower began to scratch the mud with her claws, "No barricade formation this time. This fight will be brief. Do not initiate a counterattack. However, lure them over the border if you can. But more importantly -"

The sound of rustling in the undergrowth made everyone's ears prick. No one said a word.

Suddenly, Smokeclaw burst from the bushes, eyes wild, "They're coming! A whole patrol of them! Five warriors! We'll be fighting quite a battle today."

Everyone jumped to their paws. The temporary sigh of relief was gone. It was time.

"Well, we've got six warriors. We can take them. Time to go. Remember my orders," rasped Stoneflower, confidently. As soon as she had finished, she swung her head away from them and in the direction of the opposite patrol.

Redpaw felt sick getting to his paws. So many directions to remember…

 _No counterattack, push forward, wait, did she tell us to push forward? No, ugh, why wasn't I paying attention?_

Redpaw's thoughts came to a halt as he was jostled forward by his clanmates.

 _Ok, here we go._

He thought his heart might beat out of his chest.

Kestrelbreeze, Swiftstem and Stoneflower led in long, swift strides. The three of them propped themselves up proudly on a log, preparing to confront the approaching cats. Stoneflower held her head high.

Swiftstem and Kestrelbreeze sat down at her sides.

Redpaw breath quickened.

Stoneflower shot him a look, "Who is that? Quiet your breathing! Those warriors will her us from a mile away."

Redpaw covered his mouth.

The DarkClan cats drew closer. They could hear them stomping angrily, sharing words loudly, as if they were in an argument.

"What's wrong with them?" snorted Smokeclaw.

Kestrelbreeze shrugged, "Probably arguing among themselves. Typical."

"Well, that's a shame," sighed Spicefur sarcastically, "They about to be destroyed and they can't find their unity. We're winning this battle no problem."

"Shut up," spat Stoneflower.

Finally, into the moonlight the DarkClan cats stepped. Redpaw gulped.

Leading them was a sleek gray she-cat, whose stern face looked as if she were expecting an ambush.

 _That must be Dawnripple, the deputy._

And just as Smokeclaw reported, four others followed her. Contrary to the terrifying elder tales, the DarkClan cats weren't as big or scary as they had been portrayed. Still, Smokeclaw was right when he said this wouldn't be an easy one. Behind her, Dawnripple had three strong-looking toms, and a she-cat.

At the starting sight of the MistClan patrol, Dawnripple's green eyes stretched wide open with shock and fury. She jumped backwards, "What? What is this?" she hissed.

Stoneflower folded her ears back, "Dawnripple. What a pleasure. How's prey running?"

Dawnripple's normally flat fur spiked. She tilted her head, wondrously trying to make sense of scene.

Finally, noble Snowstone, a DarkClan warrior, stepped forward, his gray and white fur rippling, "You and your warriors seem a little far off your own land, don't you think, Stoneflower?"

"Look who's talking," hissed Spicefur.

Dawnripple's face fell a little, "What do you mean?"

"Twice now, Dawnripple, we've caught your devious cats somehow trespassing on _our_ land," intoned Stoneflower. She stalked across the log, "Now, say you were...LochClan, or CloudClan, it would be...slightly more acceptable. Sharing a border with someone means that you'll occasionally have some paws wandering over the border," the blue of her fierce eyes met Dawnripple's green, "But you, you're borders lie way out here, perhaps miles from ours. So explain to me, why has your dear Leafstorm and his apprentice been traveling so far from home? You can't blame us for being suspicious."

Dawnripple shook her head, terrified, "I...I don't...I…" she stuttered, "What have you done with him?"

 _Curious,_ thought Redpaw. When he and Leafpaw had first encountered Leafstorm, he claimed to be collecting medicine, and that the leaders of DarkClan just didn't want the other clans to know. Based on Dawnripple's reaction, they were clearly hiding something. But their patrol seemed perfectly healthy...

"Right. That's what I thought," Stoneflower snickered. She stared forward while dipping her head and kneading her paws, as if she were about to pounce.

"Now, hold on a second," growled a dark tabby she-cat. She angrily pushed past her deputy and to the front of the patrol, golden eyes blaring.

Redpaw squinted. Were those milk teats hanging from her underbelly? Why, this angry she-cat was a nursing queen! What was she doing out here? On a patrol, nonetheless?

"You mousebrains have no more business on our land than we supposedly did on yours! How dare you bring a patrol here! What? Have you come all this way just to lecture us?" burst out the dark queen.

Snowstone, presumably her mate, rushed out to her side, "Shadewing, please, calm down."

"Not until they leave!"

"Shadewing, stop! Don't be a mousebrain!" he hissed. The gray and white warrior forced her behind the others. She snarled and lashed her tabby tail in protest.

The corners of Stoneflower's mouth curled, "Don't worry, of course we haven't come just to lecture you. We've simply come to return the favor."

Dawnripple's jaw dropped. But before she could respond, Stoneflower flicked her ears, the attack signal.

In a sudden wave of stealth, the MistClan patrol surged forward as a steady and swift group over the log into the DarkClan cats. Redpaw felt a terrifying rush of adrenaline. His clanmates pushed him along in a mass.

Before he knew it, Redpaw was bellowing and charging along with them.

He watched as Stoneflower launched herself into Dawnripple's glossy gray hide, who shrieked in retaliation.

But Redpaw's brief view was cut off as two warriors pounced into each other.

After ducking out of couple a cat's ways, wincing and gasping, Redpaw felt himself in the center of the action, stranded.

"Hey!" someone crowed. Redpaw spun around to see Shadewing. The frame of her haunched limbs revealing a tense, unbalanced stance. For a moment, her eyes fluttered in uncertainty, before hesitantly dropping into a battle position, "Trespasser," she snarled. Shadewing drew back her lips and hissed, ferociously surging up to him.

Redpaw wasn't sure what to do. This she-cat probably had kits back in her den. Was there some kind of rule about handing nursing queens?

Before he could process a reaction, Redpaw was on the ground, his now bloodied ear on fire.

Shadewing backed down. Unfortunatly, she detected his hesitance, "Oh. What's wrong? Afraid that a poor, defenseless queen can't fight against a tom half her size? Poor apprentice," she laughed.

Like a stone falling on his head, his hunter instincts jolted through his body. A split second later, Redpaw was in her fur, his fury flowing through his teeth and claws. Locked in battle, he caught a glimpse of Shadewing's terrified golden eyes

"No! Shadewing!" someone screeched. He saw a blur of gray hurtling toward him out of the corner of his eye.

It was likely Snowstone, Shadewing's mate. He dug his fangs into his scruff and flipped him over. Desperate, Redpaw to yowled and writhed on is back.

With one last painful tug, the offending jaws were ripped away from his scruff.

Warily, Redpaw looked over his shoulder to see Swiftstem on top of Snowstone. They were locked in a battle of rage.

"Leave her alone!"

"Get up, Redpaw! Run!"

Redpaw turned. Shadewing was sprawled across the ground, shaking. The fur of her underbelly was now dripping with blood. She covered her mouth with her paws as she cried. When she removed them, all could see a deep, nasty gash slicing from her nose to teeth. A cut that would likely deface her for life.

Trapped under Swiftstem's weight, Snowstrike face filled with horror. He locked eyes with Redpaw, "You...you...how dare you! She's a queen! She has kits! _We_ have kits!" he exasperated. Swiftstem was using all of his energy to hold him down.

Redpaw froze.

"Get away from her! Get away from my mate!"

Redpaw didn't have time to think, before he was crushed by another body. A brown tabby.

 _What have I done? What do I do? Oh no, Leafpaw was right. I'm going to die! What have I done? StarClan, help me! Don't let me die!_

Finally, trapped under unsheathed paws, Redpaw's thoughts were pulled into focus. He felt a brief moment of clarity. Remembering his training, and searching for a response, he kicked into the tom's stomach, claws unsheathed.

 _There's one,_ he thought, mentally patting himself on the back.

Once the tom regrouped, and stalked towards him for more, Redpaw readied himself. In the following moments, Redpaw fought his heart out, and stuck to his smarts. Where he aimed high, Redpaw would strike low. Where he pounced, Redpaw would duck. As the apprentice narrowly avoided his claws time after time, the tabby became angrier. However, Redpaw's swiftness wouldn't be enough.

The tom lunged once more. But just as Redpaw was leaping away, the tom managed to snatch a painful bite-grip on Redpaw's paw, and dragged him backwards. Once again, the tom had him pinned.

"Wow," he marvelled, "That was pretty good for an apprentice," he raised his paw, "You'd make a fine DarkClan apprentice, not considering the circumstances."

Redpaw closed his eyes and braced himself as the tom prepared to maul again.

"MistClan! Fall back!" screamed Stoneflower.

Redpaw helplessly watched as his fellow clanmates raced past him up the mucky hill, as he squirmed on his back.

"Wait! Help me!" stammered Redpaw. His voice was hoarse, with increasing pressure on his chest.

Redpaw looked into the tom's sky blue eyes.

"Ok, please, let me go! You've already won! Come on, let me go!" he pleaded.

The tabby flailed his tail, and seemed stuck on what to do. Not sure whether to show him mercy. But reluctantly, the ferocious tabby finally raised his paw, just enough for Redpaw to escape.

Redpaw dashed out from under his grip and after his clanmates.

"Wait! No, Falconstrike you fool! Don't let that apprentice get away!" yowled Dawnripple.

Shocked by her command, Redpaw bounded away faster. Falconstrike, the tom, seemed startled as well. He narrowed his eyes and began to charge.

Pain jolted through his back paw every time it hit the ground. Wary with the sting, Redpaw started to limp.

Just when Redpaw thought they were going to catch him, Swiftstem popped up from behind the log.

"Redpaw!"

The small ginger tom jumped to Redpaw's side.

"You can make it, Redpaw. Just don't look back!" he urged.

But he had to. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Snowstone and Falconstrike barreling towards them. Their eyes flared with fury as they kicked up forest debris behind them.

Swiftstem leaned in, "Run ahead of me! Don't limb! Just keep sprinting!"

Finally, he gave in to the excruciating pain. Redpaw cried out as he took off ahead. Paws skimming the ground, he scuttled across the forest floor, eyes fixed on the moonlight. It didn't even cross his mind why Swiftstem was no longer running at his side.

Just fox-lengths behind his clanmates, Redpaw outstretched his limbs and flexed his spine. They were just seconds from the border. Redpaw didn't dare look back again.

In one last excellent leap, he bounded past the treeline over the border, into CloudClan domain.

Redpaw fell out of breath. He joined Stoneflower, Smokefoot, Spicefur and Kestrelbreeze as they started to jog away

 _It's over,_ thought Redpaw in relief, _My first battle. It's finally over!_

Then it hit him.

"Wait! Swiftstem!"

He was met with confused looks at first, before their faces turned to horror.

"Follow me!" commanded Stoneflower to Smokeclaw. Back into the DarkClan forest they raced.

Feeling flowing back into his paw, Redpaw groaned.

Kestrelbreeze gasped, "Oh, goodness! Redpaw, your paw…"

Horrific screams arose from the forest.

"Kestrelbreeze, we've gotta go," muttered Spicefur, "They need our help."

Kestrelbreeze looked from Spicefur to Redpaw, "But...we can't just leave him here! All alone..."

"I'm not a kit!" grumbled Redpaw.

All three of their ears pricked as Stoneflower distinctive howl faded away.

"They'll shred them to pieces if we just sit here!" urged Spicefur.

Gaze resting on Redpaw curled up in the grass, Kestrelbreeze sighed, "Fine. Let's go. Redpaw, we'll be right back, I promise!"

"Save Swiftstem!" he called out to them. But they had already disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

Now, Redpaw was sitting alone. It was unnerving to hear the battle raging on, unable to do anything about it.

Drained, he examined his wound. He would be lucky if it wasn't infected on they way home.

Redpaw shuddered to think that Falconstrike had bitten all the way through. The running had made even worse.

The rustling and cries of battle grew louder.

He felt guilty that he couldn't fight, hearing gut-wrenching shriek after shriek erupt from the trees.

Redpaw could hear the action coming closer to him.

 _StarClan help them._

Arching his back, Redpaw prepared to flee. It was only a matter of moments before the fighting was brought to the border.

And, like a stampede, with fur flying, Stoneflower, Spicefur, Kestrelbreeze and Smokefoot poured over the boundary. Redpaw scampered after them.

"Wh-where," he huffed, "Where's Swiftstem?"

"No time to talk, just run!" howled Spicefur.

Redpaw lagged behind, as he did before. He glanced over his shoulder to see the DarkClan cats standing triumphant at their border.

"I think we can slow down now!" he gasped. Everyone instantly slowed to a walking pace.

Redpaw immediately noticed that everyone seemed to have worse wounds than him.

Spicefur was missing a part of her ear.

Smokeclaw's face was marred with scratches.

And Stoneflower seemed to have the worst of them, with ugly-looking gashes on her shoulders and across her flanks.

And still no Swiftstem…

"Where's Swiftstem?" repeated Redpaw, a slight edge to his voice

The warriors continued to quietly jog the trail from which they had come. The cold stiffness of night answered his question.

Redpaw blinked, "Is he..?"

"No," gasped Spicefur, "At least, I don't know. None of us saw him."

"Those bags of crowfood kidnapped him, " snapped Stoneflower. All heads turned to her, "It makes sense. They probably did so, because they need something to negotiate for Leafstorm," she sighed, "Spottedstar will not be happy. I'm sorry. All of you. This was a horrible idea."

Everyone let the sound of silence fill the air as they hung their heads. It was strange to see Stoneflower, of all cats, swallow their pride.

Spicefur glanced behind them, "Mousedung, they're following us!"

Redpaw whirled around. Sure enough, three or four warriors were far behind the patrol. He frowned, "Who are they? I didn't see them in the battle."

"They were in the reinforcements that pushed us out. We may outnumber _them_ , but they haven't gotten a scratch," explained Kestrelbreeze.

"No stopping for sleep. We're going straight home," concluded Stoneflower. Everybody groaned.

Redpaw nodded and stiffed a yawn. He was limping again, and trying not to put too much weight on his injured paw. It was going to be a long night.

 **As you can see, I skipped chapter 12 so that it would all line up on the contents. I hope you all had a nice break over the holidays! I certainly did. I apologize, meant to post this before I went on vacation. Happy 2017!**


	14. Chapter 14

As the sky radiated into a deep violet, the wary battle patrol knew they were finally nearing home. After all they'd fought, and the miles they had walked, relief was the only thing they could be happy about.

Like the wounds they bore their shoulders, the thought of losing Swiftstem stung.

Redpaw dread to think about Leafpaw's reaction. He supposed he should tell her before Stoneflower gave her report to the clan. Oh, he couldn't imagine the outrage they were going to be in when they found out.

As soon as the battle patrol stumbled into camp, they were welcomed with anxious stares and questions, rather than cheers.

Redpaw closed his ears to block out the buzzing. He pushed his way through to find Leafpaw.

He caught a flash of her dull ginger fur.

"Leafpaw! Is that you?"

Leafpaw, who was sunning beside Adderfoot, perked. Her eyes widened, but didn't flinch at the sight of her brother. Tossing a last quick word to Adderfoot, she rose to her paws and hesitantly trotted up to meet him.

She sat before him.

"Well, thank StarClan you're ok," she meowed, with little emotion in her voice.

Redpaw licked his chest fur, "Um...hey."

"Redpaw, I'm...I'm sorry I sort of just gave up and turned tail on you all. I won't do it again, because we're littermates, and littermates should always be there for each other," she spoke, solemnly.

Redpaw dipped his chin while frowning, "Did Mom give you lecture while I was gone?"

"No, Robinfoot did."

"Ah."

He figured that Leafpaw was either really guilty, or being around Adderfoot had somewhat improved her mood while he was . He swallowed, "Um, can we...talk? About the battle?"

Leafpaw's fur stood up. She instantly scanned the crowd.

"Oh no. Wasn't Swiftstem with you?"  
Redpaw held his breath, "Yes."

Leafpaw looked like she might drop dead.

"Don't worry, he's not...gone!"

"Then, where is he?"

He shook his head, "As we were escaping, this tom, I think his name was Falconstrike," he nervously shuffled his paw, revealing the bite-wound, "I owe Swiftstem my life. If he hadn't bravely stood and fought while I escaped, I wouldn't, no, I could never have have escaped alive. Stoneflower thinks they captured him."

Leafpaw stared at him with guilt in her eyes, "Would this have happened if I were there?"

"No no, don't think about it that way. There's no way to tell what could've happened."

Leafpaw stared ahead blankly.

"I know. You're probably...horrified, to say the least. But they probably only did it because we caught Leafstorm."  
"Yeah," she mewed abruptly, looking away.

"Don't worry, Leafpaw. I'm sure Spottedstar will figure something out. You'll see. We'll get him back at the next gathering, which is only in three days, and then we'll finally find out with Leafstorm's _really_ been doing on our territory."

"Um…" mumbled Leafpaw, "It may not happen, as easily as you say…"

"Well, of course not! Hostage negotiations aren't easy, I'm sure."

"I…" Leafpaw's voice rose to a squeak.

Redpaw tilted his head, "What's wrong?"  
"Um…"

Redpaw sighed, "What did you do?"

"We don't...really, um, technically, _have_ Leafstorm as a hostage anymore."

Redpaw's mouth fell open, "What? That's impossible! How did he escape?"  
"He didn't," mumbled Leafpaw. She met his gaze, "I let him go."

" _What?_ " he stumbled. He wasn't sure whether to be shocked or furious, but his mind was rushing with emotion.

"What? _Why?_ Leafpaw, why would you do that? How did you do that? Mousebrain! Don't you realize the magnitude of-"

An angry yowl, one of them being Stoneflower's yowl, echoed off the walls. Apparently the rest of the returning battle patrol had just found out as well. And they had every right to. Knowing that they also had a prisoner was the only thing reassuring them over Swiftstem's disappearance.

"Does anyone else know?" growled Redpaw, keeping his eyes fixed on the rioting cats.

"No. Just you, me, Adderfoot and Brookshadow.

 _Perfect,_ Thought Redpaw, _Just, perfect. Yet another pile of dirt that those two snakes have on us._

Redpaw bared his teeth and gritted, " _Why would you do such a thing?_ "

"Because I believe him," she stated firmly.

"Believe what?"

"That Leafstorm is innocent. He needed to get the medicine to his clan, remember? He told us that our leaders would overreact if they knew. And he was right. He was caught for a petty crime, and now look what's happened!" she beckoned with her ginger-tan tail over to Spicefur and Smokeclaw as they were being treated by a frantic Tigerfall.

Redpaw didn't know what to say. Her kit-like reasoning baffled him to the point of fury.

"You are so...naive sometimes! You actually believed him? He's a DarkClan cat!"

"Look, Redpaw, the point is that no harm would've come if Stoneflower hadn't overracted in the first place."

Redpaw growled, " _The point_ is that Swiftstem is now in _their_ paws, and-"

"Redpaw?"

Both apprentices turned to see a tangled fluff of dark ginger fur peeking out from one of the camp walls.

Amberkit. She bashfully approached them, the amber rims of her eyes glowing. For some reason, her voice was hoarse, and much deeper than normal.

"What were you fighting about?" Amberkit asked in her sweet little mew. Redpaw could see her ears quivering.

"Oh, Amberkit," Leafpaw immediately went from sitting up taller than her brother to speaking in a motherly sort of voice, "Shouldn't you be in the nursery? I thought you weren't feeling good."

Amberkit coughed, and it sounded worse than a fox-pup's snarl. She showed great discomfort breathing back in, "I feel a little better," she rasped.

Redpaw grinned. It was cute how she was pretending to be ok so she could be around them. But she was clearly having trouble breathing, "Uh, maybe you should go back inside. It may be newleaf, but you look like you're freezing."

Amberkit started to shiver, "But...I wanted to talk to you guys," she whined. The cold and tiredness was starting to make her cry, "Lionkit begged me to, he wanted to know all about the battle, and," she coughed her awful cough again.

"No no no, don't cry Amberkit. Remember? Tigerfall said it wasn't good for your breathing."

Amberkit recoiled and took a long, hard deep breath, slightly nodding.

At that moment, Whiteleaf's urgent expression appeared from behind the camp wall, "Amberkit! What in the name of StarClan are you doing out here?"

"I got bored," she rasped.

Whiteleaf instantly scooped up her sharp-tongued daughter, hauling her back to the nursery.

On her way in, Tigerfall bounded out.

"Redpaw! There you are!" she gasped. She grabbed his back paw for inspection. Redpaw winced.

"Ouch. That looks nasty. Good thing I still have a scrap of marigold left."

"You seem really stressed," commented Redpaw.

"Well, of course. Battle patrol. One one medicine cat."

"One medicine cat? Barksky and the others aren't back yet?"

"Nope. Not yet. Lucky me."

Tigerfall went on to vigorously clean out his paw with alder bark."

"Ow! That really hurts! Careful! That's an open wound!"

"Not anymore it is. You got a lot of dirt in it on the way back. Just be thankful you don't already have an infection, which I can't even guarantee."

Leafpaw walked up to them, "You've got to give it to Tigerfall, Redpaw. She had to take care of all of us, keeping up an herb supply, handling all of the other medicine cat duties on her own, and pretty much has been running the clan while Stoneflower's been gone. And on top of that, Lionkit and Amberkit just got kitten-cough, or whitecough, or something the other day!"

"Yes, I get, I'm slammed," grumbled Tigerfall as she struggled to focus, "Oh, and Leafpaw, while I was treating Stoneflower, she said you're gonna be my assistant until we get Swiftstem back, and for training you'll be working with Redpaw and Graydust."

"HA!" laughed Redpaw, "Now you'll know how I feel!"

"Don't look so smug. I'm sure it's not _that_ much worse than the way I've been trained so far."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

As Tigerfall tightly wrapped a fresh leaf around his paw, he could only feel uneasiness rolling in him. The cats of MistClan were terrified, only another crisis from falling into chaos. Swiftstem was gone, and there was still no sign of Spottedstar or Barksky. Why would they just take off? They couldn't have possibly, abandoned their clan, could they?

Probably not. But the gathering was only three days away. If MistClan didn't catch a lucky break before then, what would they do?

An intruder, battle, a missing leader, a missing tom, and an escaped hostage. This would be some gathering.


	15. Chapter 15

Swiftstem shifted at little across the grimy damp floor. curled up, trying to be a little more comfortable.

It wasn't easy on a rough, hard stone.

Unlike the capture of Leafstorm, his manner of capture was quick. Stealthy. Organized. Not punctuated by a clan of protesting cats. Sad to say, in his mind, the cats of DarkClan semed to be more prepared for this attack than the attackers.

Swiftstem rested his chin on his paws. He wasn't worried. He had friends in this clan. He had a good idea of how this clan worked. StarClan, they probably wouldn't touch him unless MistClan dragged Leafstorm's dead body into their camp themself

And, hopefully, Stoneflower would remember Spottedstar's morals until she returned.

Swiftstem flinched at the sound of pitter-pattering of someone's claws drawing close. They paused, as if waiting for a sound. Then they pitter-pattered away again.

 _It must be another shift change._

He sprawled himself across the floor. He urged to stretch his long legs and run. Who knows how long he'd be stuck down here.

Some vile snarls rang from up the stone walls of the tunnel. Angry snarls.

Swiftstem quietly leapt to his paws. He pushed his ears forward, straining to hear.

"Don't you threaten me. I'm on your trail, Dawnripple."

"Shh! You idiot! We have a prisoner in these tunnels."

After some grumbling, the several voices drifted away.

Swiftstem couldn't help his curiosity.

Did some tomcat just tell off Dawnripple? Was she not the deputy of DarkClan?

It certainly wasn't Bloomclaw or Duskstar talking to her. Who dared talk to a deputy with such authority?

Swiftstem crept from the chamber and peered into the tunnel.

No one was there.

The next guard must of forgotten about his shift.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Swiftstem inched his way further and further up the stone tunnel, following the sound of the arguing.

After several minutes of sneaking through the tunnels, he neared the light of the exit. Swiftstem crept behind the corner. He strained his ears and held completely still. They spoke in hushed voices, but could just faintly hear their bitter words.

"I thought we had a deal, Dawnripple."

Swiftstem heard a sniff. Was it a scoff, or was Dawnripple in tears?

"We...we did. But Duskstar wasn't supposed to know!"

"You promised me the traitors. And you seem you have one, right here in your camp."

Swiftstem's heart stopped. He recognized that voice.

" _What?_ " there was heavy scorn in Dawnripple's voice, "I told you, my cats are loyal. None of them could possibly be guilty of this...treachery you speak of."

"That's what I thought my clanmates accused. Yet, we continued to find low-lives. We know of several, in your clan, and in _ukfln_ …"

The strange antagonizer muffled that last part.

"My leader knows what he sees, and plans to rid the clans of treachery."

"Ok, I get it. But can't we just wait until we get Leafstorm reports back? Or until after the gathering?"

"Reports back from what?"

"He was caught on the way back from negotiations...by MistClan."

"What? How?"  
"I don't know. They chased him down. He knows everything that you need. Can't you wait until he's back? We _will_ get him back soon. The relationship between Mistclan and DarkClan has been fine."

"Oh, please. Don't you think we know about the battle with MistClan?"

No response. Swiftstem could imagine her staring at him wordlessly.

"...Or, that you have that MistClan tom right here in your camp, as we speak?"

He heard rustling, as Dawnripple paced.

"Look, I know Duskstar may not be happy with me. But she will not stand for you _or_ you leader's accusations. Get out of my sight, you crows!"

A low growl came from strange tom

A long silence followed. He could hear, what sounded like a couple of cats walking away.

"You have until the gathering!" called the tom, "After that, your fate will be in the paws of the other clans! Once they find out, they will eat you alive."

A painful silence passed, as the strange cats walked away from the deputy.

Dawnripple sighed a stressful sigh. She paused, before raising her voice back up from a frantic whisper to her normal stern tone, "Hey, who's watching Swiftstem? Rockclaw? Wolfheart? Didn't I tell you two to take the shift?"

He heard them jumping to their paws.

"I know, I know, we're on our way!"

Fear jolted through Swiftstem. Instantly, he scrambled back down the tunnel to the chamber. He jumped into the chamber, curled up, and pretended to be asleep, just as Wolfheart and Rockclaw poked their heads in.

"Psh," scoffed one of them, "Why are Dawnripple and Duskstar making such a fuss of keeping this old rag supervised? It's not like he's going anywhere!"

"Pathetic."

Swiftstem's heart raced at the prospect of bringing home this new information. But who was supposedly blackmailing Dawnripple? And whoever it was, they were doing it with their leader, but trying to keep it from Duskstar? And what was this _treachery_ were they talking about?

 _I have to get home before that gathering._


	16. Chapter 16

It was morning. The sun rose, orange rays blazing above the horizon. The light leaked through an array of clouds, casting a magnificent sight outside the MistClan camp.

Light crept into the camp den. Redpaw blinked. He squinted into the light, before crawling from his nest to stretch.

It had been three sunrises later.

Three days since the battle.

Redpaw turned to gaze upon his sleeping clanmates bundled in a furry heap. The aftermath had been depressing. Their morale as a clan was low. And worse yet, Spottedstar and Barksky still hadn't returned, for whatever reason.

The dried leaf wrapped around Redpaw's paw crinkled, making a sleeping Leafpaw's nose twitch. Once again, he was reminded of her traitorous actions, and clenched his paws in anger.

He should report her.

No, no, that would be worse.

She was still his sister, after all. What would Rosefang think?

Cautiously, Redpaw tiptoed to the den entrance. He was careful not to cause rustling with his bandage.

His heart twinged at the thought of the gathering. What would it be like? All five clans, in one place? It had to be a tense encounter, even with the sacred truce in place.

The neighboring clans had gone silent in the past couple of days, so they were going in blind. And worse yet, without Spottedstar, it was possible that MistClan would have to attend the gathering without a leader. That would be viewed as a huge sign of weakness.

Smokeclaw towered over camp from his stone perch. The slits in his eyes fix-pointed on him with his watchful yellow eyes, "Anyone else up?" he asked, his frosty breath glowing in the sunlight.

Redpaw shook his head, stifling a yawn.

"I sent Hatchnose and a couple of cats on a border patrol a little bit ago," said Smokeclaw.

Redpaw nodded.

He wondered whether they would find traces of Spottedstar.

And since when was Smokeclaw the deputy?

Smokeclaw's unblinking gaze didn't budge, "Do you think you'll be in good condition to go out today? Or do you want to rest your paw for the gathering journey?"

"Um," Redpaw mumbled, "I'll be fine."

Smokeclaw dipped his head, unconvinced.

Suddenly, the sound of paws crunching into the frosty grass caught both of their attentions. Someone had entered camp.

"Is that you, Hatchnose?"

But instead of Hatchnose's bright cream pelt, a pair of slimmer cats emerged from the fog.

"Spottedstar! Barksky! You're back!" welcomed a stunned Smokeclaw. Redpaw leapt to his paws.

Smokeclaw bounded from the stone he sat on to properly greet his leader.

Cats from the den started to emerge from Smokeclaw's excitement.

"What's going on?" yawned a sleepy Adderfoot from the den.

Ignoring their welcome, Spottedstar's eyes stretched out wide at the sight of some of their injuries. Barksky joined her at his leader's side. He frowned, sharing her curiosity.

Just as the MistClan cats were gathering, Hatchnose's patrol returned. He stood tall, large frame bordered by his messy, sunlit fur, "Well, it's about time!" he shouted.

"Spottedstar!"

"Where have you been?"

"You won't believe what's happened!"

Barksky maintained his suspicious glare.

"Your wounds...was…was there a battle?" stammered Spottedstar.

Stoneflower crept from the den. Like most others, she has a mix of shock and relief on her face.

"Spottedstar. Barksky. You're both back early."

 _Early?_ thought Redpaw. _She knew where they went? Or, at least, when they'd be back? Why didn't she tell us?_

Her comment was followed with a chorus of follow-up questions about where they had been and why, from the awaking MistClan cats.

"Yes. Barksky and I thought it wouldn't be...polite for us both to miss the gathering," she exchanged a glance with Barksky, who flicked his ear, "But answer me. What in the name of StarClan happened?"

Stoneflower sat uncomfortable. She obviously didn't want to report her loss.

She took a deep breath, "After you both had already departed, My patrol captured the intruders: a DarkClan tom called Leafstorm, and his apprentice Scarpaw. Leafstorm was likely the same cat that intruded just weeks ago. When he refused to tell us why, I decided to keep them both hostage until they did. I highly suspect this to be more than mere prey-stealing from DarkClan," she hesitated, "So I decided that we should go to DarkClan, and show retaliation to one of their border patrols, just so that they know that we're not oblivious to whatever they're up to," she paused, "However, I think Dawnripple figured out what we had done to Leafstorm, so she ordered her cats to capture Redpaw, likely to make it even. But Swiftstem was captured instead trying to protect him," she gulped, "I know. It was not the best idea. I take responsibility for all."

Now that Stoneflower had summarized it that way, Redpaw felt worse. She made it sound like _he_ was responsible for losing Swiftstem. Maybe it was true...

With cocked heads, Spottedstar and Barksky held strong expressions of shock, anger and worry.

Spottedstar scanned the general camp area, "You mean to say, Leafstorm and Scarpaw are here? In camp?"

"Well, no. While we were in DarkClan, they somehow escaped our walls. I've sent out countless search parties over the last couple of days, but there's no sign of them anywhere in our territory or on the LochClan-CloudClan border," she breathed shakily.

Spottedstar didn't know what to say. She was too stunned.

But Barksky did.

"How...how could anyone do something so mousebrained, and dangerous? You're telling us you took our clan into a _battle?_ Without a leader or a medicine cat?" Barksky remarked, in such a calm and unsettling way that made Redpaw's skin crawl.

"We had Tigerfall," pointed out Smokeclaw.

"Yeah, and it was exhausting!" she remarked, stalking from her den, "Never again."

Barksky rolled his eyes.

Stoneflower dipped her head a little, but focused her stern ice stare on Barksky. A growl erupted from her throat.

Spottedstar shot her medicine cat a look, "Please, Barksky, let me handle this."

It baffled Redpaw that she and Barksky were talking about their deputy as if she were a kit that had wandered too far from the nursery.

"Stoneflower, I'm not saying I disagree with your decisions, but did you really think it was wise to send a battle patrol without the medicine cat? Or my consent?"

Barksky angrily slashed his tail, storming off into his den, " _Reckless_ ," he hissed.

No one uttered a mew. They didn't dare say a word as Stoneflower dipped her head and excused herself. Redpaw pitied her. It wasn't completely Stoneflower's fault. In reality, it was the clan that pressured her into battle.

Spottedstar scanned her eager clanmates.

"Now, I realize you all have a lot of questions. I apologize for leaving abruptly, but it was urgent. Barksky and I were only at the moonflower, I assure you," everyone crowded outside the MistClan den just stood in confusion. Spottedstar felt their distrust. She frowned, "Now, please excuse me. We've been traveling all night, and I'd prefer to get some sleep before it's time for the gathering."

"So...that's it? You've just been at the moonstone?" called out Brookshadow.

"But...what about Stoneflower? Why didn't _she_ tell us where you were, rather than letting us sit and be worried?" asked a she-cat. Redpaw couldn't tell whether it was Spicefur or Tigerfall.

"And why were you gone for four, almost five days?" said Smokeclaw. A few others cast their questions.

"Everyone calm down, we only went to the moonflower, like leaders do every year. Cool it with the suspicions," snapped Barksky, just before is disappered into his den.

Everyone continued to whisper with one another disbelievingly. They went to the moonflower? Without telling anyone? For so long? And why were they being so secretive about it?

Fur ruffled up in a mess, Leafpaw groggily staggered from the den, "What's going on?"

Redpaw still couldn't believe she had practically betrayed her clan. But why? He had always known that she was against turning in Leafstorm, but it still seemed a bit...drastic for her to do. Maybe treating her nicely would convince her to open up.

"Leafpaw," greeted Redpaw, "Can you come here, for a minute?"

"Why?" she yawned.

"Well, everything's been really awful, and tense in the past couple of days. I need to clear my head. I'm walking along the CloudClan border. Want to come with me?"

"Um," her gaze flickered over to Adderfoot and Brookshadow as they argued with the elders.

"Come on, you always hang out with them. I'm your brother. Can't I have just one hour? Help me make sense of all of this?"

She groaned, "Fine. Only because I'm not in the mood to argue with them."

So Leafpaw and Redpaw left the hills creating their camp, leaving behind a restless clan. As they left, they could hear Hatchnose starting to rant.

It was a crisp day. Chilly, but a joyful reminder that newleaf was coming.

"Do you think anyone will miss us? Like Graydust?" she shuddered.

Until Swiftstem was back, Stoneflower had Graydust had taken over Leafpaw's training, who had quickly taken a disliking to the carefree apprentice.

"No, I think he went on a patrol earlier. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Oh, good. He's so creepy."

Redpaw chuckled, "Yeah."

They continued up the now-familiar path leading to CloudClan-MistClan border. The little dirt path was covered with hundreds of pawprints in the snow, from cats walking up and down it everyday.

Redpaw sighed, "Remember coming up here, that one night, when we first met Leafstorm?"  
"Yeah."

Redpaw looked at his paws, "You know, when it first happened, it felt like we had the fate of the clans in our paws," commented Redpaw.

She shrugged, "Well, for all we knew, DarkClan could've been."

"Do you think that it would have made a difference? I mean, whether we reported it or not."

"Well, Stoneflower pretty much just went ahead did what would've been the worse scenario. Whether we told them or not, Leafstorm still gets caught, and now we might be in a war with DarkClan."

Redpaw felt a rumble in his throat, "Seriously Leafpaw, did you really have to let him go? It's bad enough Adderfoot and Brookshadow already know he met him before. Now you have this hanging over your head?"

"Look, I'm sorry it just so happened this way. _I_ didn't wage war on DarkClan."

"You're sorry? Well, it doesn't change that Leafstorm is walking free while Swiftstem is still their hostage!"

Leafpaw thought for a moment, "Ok, let's just think about this. I mean, once Leafstorm and Scarpaw show up back at DarkClan, they'll just let Swiftstem go, right?"

"I doubt it. This is _DarkClan_ we're talking about. They're going to want something in exchange for him."

Leafpaw sighed shakily, realizing the magnitude of what she had done, "I don't want to talk about this anymore," she mumbled.

Redpaw rolled his eyes. _If anything happens to Swiftstem, she's only got herself to blame._

As they reached the CloudClan border, they only half-acknowledged the beautiful sight of the hills this time. There was too much on their minds.

The silence between them was painful. Leafpaw's face was twisted with discomfort. It faded into guilt, and then remorse.

"So...how have you been? Do you still dream of becoming a leader?" asked Leafpaw softly.

 _Well, that was a quick change in tone._

She probably just wanted to talk about anything other than Leafstorm.

 _She's conflicted._

"Um, yeah, I guess so. I just…I won't have to worry about that for a while. I'd say it's more of a life-long goal, rather than a dream, " he smirked, "So, what about you? Do you still dream of marrying the 'handsomest' tom ever?"

Leafpaw blushed, "Not really. I already found one."

"What? You mean Adderfoot?"

"Yes. One hundred percent."

"Oh my gosh. You're an apprentice. He's _way_ too old for you. And, to be honest, he's not exactly the ' _handsomest'._ "

"Yeah? So? Adderfoot only became a warrior, like, a quarter-moon before we were apprentices."

"Well, I suppose he has the maturity level of an apprentice," said Redpaw.

Leafpaw stomped, "Redpaw, why do you insist on being his rival?" she growled.

"Um, how about because he's been bullying me for moons? Or because he humiliated me in front of everyone? Or, because he's _still_ always a jerk to me? And everyone..?"

"Well, to be fair, you did provoke him first that one time he beat you up," Leafpaw pointed out, rolling her eyes, "Never poke the bear."

"That's not the point!"

"You know what, I guess I kind of get it. He embarrassed you, and you just fear everybody's judgment. Poor Redpaw," she teased.

"Ok. Do you know why I'm like that? Why it bothers me to be looked down on?"

"Why?"

Redpaw sighed, "Ever heard any of the stories about Dad?"

Leafpaw looked down, "Well, no, actually."

"Well, he was amazing. Mom used to go on about him all the time. The elders told me stories, too. He was an honorable warrior, and a trustworthy friend, by their words."

"Ok, so what does that have to do with you?"

"Well, one time, I was probably three moons old or so, Russetear told me a story. He said that once upon a time, Spottedstar and our dad competed for the spot of deputy."

Her eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Yeah! He was one of the best fighters, and one of the most popular and respected."

"And he didn't get the spot of deputy?"

"Oh no, he did. The old leader trusted him with their life. The problem was, Dad died only a mere moon after becoming deputy, just before we were born. I sort of feel like I'm...I don't know, obligated to accomplish what he couldn't. You know? And when I do become leader, I'll do it in his name, and bring honor to him. That's what I want to do."

"Huh. I never knew that," mewed Leafpaw, "Why haven't you ever mentioned how much Dad meant to you?"

Redpaw sighed again, "It's...complicated. After Amberkit and Lionkit lost their father, all of the queens and elders suddenly became super sensitive about mentioning him."

"Ah," Leafpaw continued to only stare at her paws, "What was his name?"

"Mousedung, Leafpaw. You don't know your own father's name?"

"What is it?" she pressed.

Redpaw smiled, "Fireblaze."

"Fireblaze," repeated Leafpaw. Perhaps knowing his name made their thought of him more meaningful and personal.

Redpaw went on.

"So...whenever I'm humiliated, or I'm the weak link in a battle, or everyone looks at me in that scornful way they do occasionally…"

"You feel like you're disgracing him."

"Exactly."

They continued on the border, even as dark, cold clouds blocked out the sun. A gust of wind sents chills down their spines. Light thunder rumbled.

Redpaw flicked his ears, "We should probably head back. It looks like it's going to -"

"Hey guys!"

Redpaw flinched. He turned, and his heart sunk as he saw Adderfoot and Brookshadow sprinting after them.

 _Ugh. Can't they leave either of us alone for one hour?_

"Hi! Oh my gosh, what did Hatchnose do? He looked like he was going to explode!" exclaimed Leafpaw.

Adderfoot barged in between Leafpaw and Redpaw, "Oh, he got _mad,_ like, worse than that one time that kittypet got loose. He got the whole clan riled up, I'm pretty sure Spottedstar's going to have to come up with a better excuse for being gone for so long, or she's going to have to battle her own clan!"

Brookshadow flanked Redpaw on his other side, "I wouldn't worry about it. Everyone will forget about it after tonight."

Adderfoot purposely bumped into his side, "Hey, squirt! How was the battle?"

"Don't touch me," snarled Redpaw.

"Aw, you're not still mad about the fight, are you? That was moons ago! Don't feel bad. It's not your fault. Everyone has trouble controlling their emotions sometimes. Escpeacially apprentices."

"Of course he doesn't feel bad. I'm sure he'll be telling everyone at the gathering tonight all about it!" added Brookshadow.

Redpaw tried to signal to Leafpaw that he was uncomfortable. But, she pretended to have not caught his glance, suddenly taking interest in the scenery.

" _Or_ associating with suspected enemy warriors. There's nothing more admirable than treason, is there?

Redpaw pushed away from them, "A moon ago, you both were threatening to tell everyone that we were traitors. Don't think that _I'm_ going to trust you so easily," hissed Redpaw.

"Redpaw, give them a chance," piped Leafpaw. Her voice was calm, but her angry eyes were telling him to shut his mouth.

"Hey, you haven't told him about Leafstorm yet have you?" smirked Brookshadow.

Leafpaw shuffled her paws, "No no, I have."

Redpaw was astounded, "You, you told _them?_ " he glanced at them before turning back to her.  
She sighed.

"Are you kidding? She can't take credit for it all! We all took the shift that night!" Adderfoot laughed, "Yeah. She couldn't have done it without us."

Redpaw wanted to sink his teeth into his bristle-furred scruff, so badly.

 _These idiots are going to get someone killed or something! They might already have..._

"Yeah. Leafpaw told us about her plan. So the three of us took and shift in the middle of the night. Brookshadow led leafstorm to the LochClan border," explained Adderfoot.

"It was almost too easy," Brookshadow remarked.

Redpaw shook his head, "Well, I don't why you're all acting like that's a good thing. You'd all better hope they resolve this tonight, or Swiftstem…"

He frowned, as the others were throwing funny looks at each other.

"Guys?"

Adderfoot and Brookshadow locked eyes, and started to scowl.

Redpaw nervously looked from one to the other, "What's going on?"

Suddenly, a sharp scent hit his muzzle. He made a face.

"What is…" started Leafpaw, but they all recognised the scent at once.

"CloudClan," growled Adderfoot.

"What? No way!" snarled Brookshadow. She sprinted up to the border, and then followed the scent, several good paces into MistClan grounds. She held her dire expression.

"The trail doesn't stop here. Whoever the intruder was, they went further."

Leafpaw and Adderfoot anxiously followed her.

Brookshadow came to a halt at a rock. She stepped out of the way, revealing a dark brown patch smelling of rabbit.

"What? Those foxes intruded! _And_ stole prey!" she yowled.

"That's not all! Look over here!" called Leafpaw, standing further away, near the border. Redpaw followed her. He caught an offensive and strong scent of CloudClan, and more rabbit blood.

"StarClan, there's more!" yelled Redpaw. Sure enough, there were multiple trails leading off of the enemy territory, laced with their stench.

The four of them exchanged glances with one another. What should they make of this? Why would CloudClan do this, on the very night of the gathering?

"Let's go back."

"Good idea."

As the raced down the hill on the trail back towards camp, Redpaw quickly lost his own breath.

Brookshadow dashed ahead like a sparrow. Behind her, Adderfoot bounded along in long strides. Leafpaw, with her springing bursts and developing speed, held her own next to Brookshadow and Adderfoot. However, Redpaw lagged far behind them.

"Lucky for CloudClan that it's the night of the truce!" howled Adderfoot.

The amusement in his voice made Redpaw cringe. What did he find so funny about blood and violence?

Then he remembered the night Adderfoot fought him. Right.

 _What a snake-hearted fleabag. What in the name of StarClan does Leafpaw even see in him?_

/

" _What?_ You can't be serious!"

Spottedstar's eyes were stretched open and with the arrival of the news. But her whiskers didn't quiver.

"It's true," affirmed Adderfoot, head held high respectfully, "We all smelled it, all four of us, we saw the remains with our very own eyes."

Startled by their news, Stormleaf and some other warriors joined the queens as they leaned in to listen.

Brookshadow flicked a black ear, "It wasn't far off the trail leading from here to the border. It was madness, there was scent after scent, as if a whole patrol had just marched over! And most of the scents showed evidence of _prey-stealing._ "

Most everyone seemed either puzzled or stressed by her words.

Spottedstar halted the hushed murmers with a flick of her tail. She cast her cats a reassuring look, before turning back to Brookshadow, "And how fresh were the scents?"

"Very fresh. And the blood smelled as if it had only been slaughtered hours ago," growled Adderfoot.

Redpaw noticed that beside Spottedstar, Stoneflower sat.

"Hmm," mumbled Spottedstar, "Curious. Now. everyone, let's be careful about this. I sense a plot. Perhaps after hearing about our knee-jerk reaction of going straight into battle upon intrusion, CloudClan might be trying to provoke us on the night of the truce," she only glanced at Stoneflower for a second, but Stoneflower's hesitant eye flicker told Redpaw she could feel the judgment of her leader and clanmates on her shoulders.

"Has no one in any of these clans have ANY respect for borders anymore?" barked Hatchnose.

Most of the she-cat warriors began to maliciously growl in agreement. Apparently, the anger of Spottedstar's secretive behavior had already been forgotten by Hatchnose. Perhaps he decided that this story would make his clanmates angrier.

"Please, be quiet for just a moment!" announced Spottedstar.

The warriors went silent, but their glares remained.

"Now," sighed Spottedstar, "We are _not_ the enemy here, nor will we be the antagonists of this gathering. I guarantee that both DarkClan _and_ CloudClan would be pleased to see us be the ones to draw everyone into a war."

Her strong words snapped everyone's attention.

"However," she went on thoughtfully, tilting her head. Rosefang and Whiteleaf shuffled uncomfortably, "The code is the code. And the truce doesn't begin until moonhigh."

Redpaw, along with the other three, looked up. It was probably about mid-morning at the moment, but it was unusually cloudy and dark. Already, bits of hail zipped down like ice shards.

He noticed Russetear and the other elders making their way to the shelter of the MistClan den. Within minutes, everyone's pelts were sprinkled with white specks.

"So, until then, we'll be vigilant," she turned to Graydust, who lifted his chin, "Graydust, form a band. Inspect the _entire_ border. If you see any intruders, you know what to do."

The old tom seemed a little overwhelmed at her command at first, but furled his brow and nodded obediently nonetheless.

" _What's a band?_ " hissed Redpaw. Leafpaw ignored him and shrugged.

In a graceful leap, Spottedstar abandoned her perch and headed for her den, as Stoneflower watchfully held her ground.

No one spoke at first. But as soon as Spottedstar disappeared into the darkness of her den, everyone either turned to Graydust or burst with their speculation.

"All right, all right. I get it! Shut it for one minute while I try to make up my mind!" Graydust heaved himself where his leader had previously been sitting.

Redpaw gnashed his teeth in frustration. What was going on? Why wasn't anyone answering his question?

He tried to get Brookshadow and Adderfoot's attention by jabbing his paw into their shoulders.

"Um, hey, guys? Could someone please explain to be what-"

"Shut up, beebrain!" hissed Adderfoot.

All of the cats crowded closer. Redpaw felt as if he were shrinking without any personal space, with several different pelts pushing against him. They all anxiously faced Graydust, who was catching his breath.

"Ok," he gasped, scanning the glaring of his clanmates, "Ok. Let's see...Stormleaf! Adderfoot! Let's go."

Graydust flew over the crowd in a pounce, front paws slamming into the ground. Adderfoot and Stormleaf went on after him. The three of them sprinted out of camp like a pack of wolves.

Redpaw turned to Brookshadow, "Um, what just happened?"

Brookshadow rolled her eyes, "Uhg. Ok. A 'band' is a another way of saying 'death squad.'"

"Now now, don't put that idea in his head. A band is a...type of patrol. It's just easier to do in situations where a task needs to be done quickly. Spottedstar was just implying that in this case, she wants...elites to deal with this, rather than a whole battle patrol," explained Smokeclaw.

Brookshadow snorted, "Elites? Then why did he pick Adderfoot?"

Brookshadow and Redpaw couldn't help laughing.

Leafpaw looked down defensively at first. But she couldn't stop herself from smiling at her crush's expense.

"Very funny. But Graydust picked for a reason, Brookshadow," she said with an edge to her mew.

Her face dropped, "Chill, Leafpaw. It was a joke."

Redpaw sighed from his breathy laughter, "Hey. Come on. You have to admit, Adderfoot's definitely not perfect."

"Well, he's better than _you_."

Redpaw narrowed his eyes, "Really? How so?"

"Well, for one, Adderfoot actually listens to and gives a mousetail about my problems. He cares about what I care about. He gives me advice. He makes me feel better about myself when I have bad days," she reprimanded. Her outburst made Redpaw step back, "All you ever do is talk about your own problems, and why so much hinges on your success."

Realizing that Brookshadow was no longer listening to, nor care about their conversation, Redpaw went on in a hushed voice, "Hey, I'm sorry, ok? Did anything I just say to you on the border mean anything to you? You acted like you were touched!"

"Well, sure," her voice faltered, "I just...I don't know. Adderfoot and Brookshadow actually want to hear about my worries and passions. You know, I can be myself around them. It's more fun to do things with them."

"Do things? You mean like sneaking out Leafs-"

Leafpaw swiftly struck his muzzle, "Shh, Redpaw! We're in camp! Someone might be able to hear us," she whispered.

"Ok, Leafpaw, I get it," grumbled Redpaw, slumping away.

 _Why is she acting like this? Just whenever I think I'm connecting with her again, she just acts like it never happened._

Redpaw looked over his shoulder, just to see Brookshadow and Leafpaw whispering to each other furiously.

What was her problem? She acted like she was moved when Redpaw first told her his motivation, and the story of their father. For once he'd thought she must've understood him, or at least felt any sympathy for him…

And then it hit him.

She wouldn't feel bad for him just because he felt obligated to follow his father's pawsteps.

Leafpaw was Fireblaze's kit too.


	17. Chapter 17

"Pst! Redpaw! Wake up, Honey!"

"Hm?"

Redpaw arose to see Rosefang beside his nest, patiently waiting for him to awake.

Behind her, at the den exit, Redpaw could see that the shade of the cloudy sky still sat gloomily over their camp. Hopefully it wouldn't rain on them.

His mind snapped into awareness. Groaning, he sat up, "What time is it?"

"Just about sunset. We'll be leaving in a little bit. Tired?"

"I'm exhausted," grumbled Redpaw. He stretched back his head to loosen his shoulders.

"Well, you'd better wake yourself up a little bit. You don't want to be drowsy for the gathering.

Redpaw's dark, haze-amber eyes widened a bit, "I almost forgot about that. So, I am going then, for sure? Because, Graydust seemed pretty committed to making sure that I didn't."

"No no, he told me that you were."

"He did?"

"Well," she smiled, "I technically overheard him talking to Stoneflower about it. She was telling him of how much promise you showed in the battle, and that he should reward you by having you come to the gathering. That is, unless your paw still hurts."

"Oh no, I'm great!" exclaimed Redpaw, jumping to his paws. He winced as his bandaged foot hit the ground.

Rosefang chuckled, and turned to leave, "Yeah yeah yeah. Just take it easy," she looked back at him, "You know, I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks."

Before she left the den, she turned back. A look of concern replaced her pride.

"So, tell me, what's going on between you and your sister? Whiteleaf told me you two were arguing this morning, or something?"

"Oh, um…" Redpaw scratched an ear, "Yeah. We were."

"What's that all about?"

He sighed, "I don't know. Leafpaw's seemed kind of...well, different lately."

Rosefang stared at him, unconvinced, "Do you really think she's acting different? Or has Adderfoot caused you to think of her more negatively?"

"Oh, you...know about her and Adderfoot?"

"I'm her mother."

"Right."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Redpaw. She's growing up, and still figuring it all out, just like are you."

"But it's _Adderfoot_. You know how he is. And, he's like six moons older than her. You can't possibly be ok with this," persisted Redpaw.

Rosefang shrugged.

"I'll admit, Redpaw, neither Adderfoot nor his sister are perfect. If I were to choose her mate, he wouldn't be my first pick. But that's just the point. I'm _not_ the one who gets to choose. She is. We should respect her decision. And she won't have to pick for a while, anyway. The point is, she's getting to know her clanmates better. That's a good thing! After all, you all are going to be living with these cats, I daresay even kin, for life. When you guys are senior warriors, perhaps the deputies or leaders one day, Adderfoot, Brookshadow, Spicefur, Tigerfall, even Lionkit and Amberkit, I'm telling you Redpaw, _they're_ the ones that will be at your flanks. You'll be the ones guiding the clan one day."

"I guess so," he mumbled. Who was he kidding? Rosefang was absolutely right. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

Robinfoot poked her head inside, "Redpaw? Are you awake yet?"

"Uh huh. Do you need me for something?"

"Come here," she mewed abruptly.

She seemed a little upset, but Redpaw couldn't tell whether she was disturbed, anxious, or both. This made him nervous.

"Is, um...is something wrong, Robinfoot?"

She grimly turned to him, "Sort of. Please, hurry."

That wasn't very reassuring. Redpaw hurried after her with wide eyes. Worry pulsed through him as she crossed camp.

"Can you just tell me what's going on? Why do you need me?"

He felt his heart sink a little as they approached the nursery.

"Um, Robinfoot? This wouldn't have to do with the kits being sick, would it?"

"I'm afraid so."

At the entrance to the nursery, Barksky was waiting.

This made Redpaw even more uneasy. Usually, Barksky only interfered with care in the most severe cases.

Robinfoot turned to Redpaw, "You see, right after you left for battle, the kits, well, Lionkit, was thrilled at the thought of you going into battle. All day, all he wanted was for you to get back so you could tell him all about it."

"Ok," mumbled Redpaw nervously, "So, you want me to see him, I know he's sick, do you guys want me to cheer him up?"

Robinfoot turned him to Barksky, who nodded to her.

"Well, see Redpaw, you have to understand, this is...serious. Barksky just finished explaining to us what it was. A type of kit-cough, and a dangerous one."

Redpaw felt a lump in his throat, and his breath quicken, "That's terrible. Are they going to be ok?"

"I think, with a little help from StarClan, they'll be fine," answered Barksky, "I just don't know. Whiteleaf and I just want them to be comfortable."

What did that mean? Was the kit cough so serious that even Barksky was skeptical?

"So...what do you want me for?"

"Well," sighed Robinfoot, exchanging a glance with Barksky, "They're distraught. And Barksky believes that stress and crying will make the cough worse, he says it could compromise their breathing. They need to be relaxed, maybe even cheered up. Now, Lionkit hasn't talked much for the last couple of few days because of the cough; but, Whiteleaf says that before that, the only thing he could talk about was how excited he was for you all to get back from the battle so you could tell them about it. Obviously, that hasn't happened. But those two, before they got really sick, they just went on and on about how they wanted to see you. It would mean everything in the world for you to tell them about the battle."

"So...you want me to make them feel better?"

"They whorship you," grunted Barksky, "They both seemed more disappointed about not seeing you than their sickness," he grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Wow. Had Barksky never been a kit in his life? Or seen one?

"It's no big favor, Redpaw. Just try to be comforting, or optimistic. Anything to distract them from being sick. This isn't really a big thing for us to ask for, so do you think you can just help them feel a little better?" asked Robinfoot.

"Yes, of course," complied Redpaw. He turned into the nursery, "But, their disease, it isn't _contagious,_ is it?"

Barksky moved out of his way of the entrance, "Just try not to touch them. If they cough, or sneeze, just leave. And even if you did catch it, you're not a kit. It probably couldn't kill you."

"Oh, ok," mumbled Redpaw. That was anything but reassuring.

Head held low with pity, the anxious apprentice crawled under the log that held up the entrance. He followed the tunnel to their nest. A gentle bout of nostalgia going washed over him, going down the tunnel. It reminded of the days he spent chasing Leafkit up and down the tunnels like mice. Then, he realized that he hadn't been in the nursery since the day he was apprenticed.

When Redpaw reached the end, into the chamber that held their little nest, he could instantly see just how sick they were.

They were cuddled together, their pelts ruffled and dull. Lionkit's nose and mouth were crusted, as if he had been drooling in his sleep without noticing.

They were both awake, weakly whispering to each other. As Redpaw entered the room, Amberkit turned to him, but Lionkit half-closed eyes took no notice.

"Hey, guys. How are you doing?" he greeted, heavy sympathy in his voice.

"Just tired," mewed Amberkit, "And my throat hurts."

"Lionkit? Are you awake? I heard you wanted to hear about the battle."

Poor Lionkit glanced around the den, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. His eyes were dark and dull.

Amberkit nudged at his shoulders, "Lionkit. Lionkit? Lionkit! Look! Redpaw came to see us! He's here!"

Lionkit's exhausted eyes fluttered around the room, before slowly focusing on the apprentice before him.

"Hey, Lionkit. How are you feeling?"

 _Uhg. That was a stupid question,_ thought Redpaw, biting his lip. The answer was painfully obvious.

Lionkit just shrugged a little.

Could poor Lionkit even talk anymore?

But, to his relief, Lionkit showed some mild interest. He lifted his from the side of his nest.

He opened his mouth, " _Did_ ," he started, but his voice was too scratchy and hoarse to understand.

"Hey, it's ok, Lionkit. Take it easy. Don't strain your voice."

Lionkit took a deep breath, " _Did,_ " he rasped, "Did you actually, f-fight, fight DarkClan warriors?"

Redpaw was too relieved to hear him talking to be worried about him using his voice. He smiled, "Yes, yes we did."

Interest flowed back into his facial expressions, and the fatigue began to melt away, " _You_ did? _Really?"_

"Yeah, I did! It was really intense, and, well, scary."

"Were they as big as badgers, like Russetear says they are?" asked Amberkit.

"Well, no. They were still terrifying. Everything about them was scary. Even their forest. It was spooky, and dark. We snuck in, and did our best to sneak up on their patrol. We had to be super quiet."

"Like, on your tip-toes? Like Mommy showed us?" mewed Amberkit.

"Yes. And you wouldn't believe their faces when we finally came out of hiding! They were shocked, and got really mad. You could see the fury in their eyes. They may not have been as big as badgers, but they were certainly just as angry as one."

Lionkit's eyes glowed a little brighter.

Amberkit recoiled, "Oh no, I hope I never have to meet one."

" _Then what happened_?" pressed Lionkit, curling his front paws over the edge of his nest.

"A huge, ferocious warrior attacked me. He tried to rake my chest with his claws! But he couldn't catch me. I was too quick. He stomped around like a badger trying to catch a mouse, but every single time, I would jump out of the way, and just barely miss his fangs!"

"Is that how _..?_ " started Lionkit, softly beckoning to the paw wrapped in a leaf.

"Yes. When I tried to jump away, the tom grabbed by paw and dragged me backwards."

"Did it hurt?" pondered Amberkit, concern in her eyes.

"Oh, of course. But that's just something everyone has to deal with in battle, I guess."

She shivered, "I hope I never have to do that!"

"Don't worry, Amberkit. Once I get better, and become a warrior, cats you try to kill you will get beat up by me first _!_ " Lionkit boasted.

He tumbled backwards in excitment, and instantly fell into another fit of painful-sounding coughs.

Ignoring Barksky's warnings, Redpaw put a paw on his back, "Do you need me to get Barksky?"

"No no no! I want to hear the rest of the story," he quietly requested.

"Ok," he paused, "If you're sure. Well, that DarkClan cat would've had me for good, if it weren't for Swiftstem. When I limped away, he turned around stood up to the patrol of five, maybe six warriors."

"How did he win against _six_ DarkClan warriors?" asked Lionkit.

"Well, he didn't. He was very brave. He managed to fight off the first few. But all of them working together was too much. They swarmed him, and captured him."

The kits held faces of horror.

"But, I think, what matters most is that he was brave enough, right? He put his own safety on the line so that I could have a chance of escaping. And that's what being a warrior is truly about, I think. Doing whatever it takes for your clanmates," finished Redpaw. He felt another wave of guilt to think that Swiftstem sacrificed himself for his own good.

"Will he be ok _?_ " rasped Lionkit.

Redpaw felt a lump of fear in his chest, "Well, we'll find out tonight. But when we come back, I promise, if Swiftstem comes home, he'll tell you all about his battle moves, and what their camp looked like."

Amberkit yawned a hoarse yawn. Lionkit's eyelids drooped.

"I know you guys probably feel awful and tired. Here, you two go to sleep. We'll tell you all about the gathering tomorrow. Get your rest. I'll get Barksky to check on you."

"Get Tigerfall. I don't like Barksky. He's not as nice," said Amberkit.

"Ok. I will. Hang in there, guys. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"Wait!" squeaked Amberkit, just as Redpaw was leaving.

Redpaw turned, and saw a mix of dread and sorrow in her eyes. Her rosy red ears shook. They both sat, with their puffy eyes and filthy faces, which were too long deprived from their mother's warm tongue.

"Are we going to be ok?" she asked.

Redpaw felt his heart clench. How was he supposed to answer that?

"Amberkit, Lionkit, StarClan is watching over you two. If they want you to live, then they'll give you strength to get through it. You just have to have faith."

Once more defying the medicine cat's orders, Redpaw walked up to them, and licked each of them on the top of their heads. They gave him such hopeful looks.

 _Oh StarClan, please help them recover._

The sound of a yowl echoed into the nursery, "Everyone going to the gathering, prepare yourselves! It's almost time to go!"

"Bye," whispered Redpaw, as they closed their eyes and fell asleep, "Sleep tight."

He quietly bounded out the den, and into the darkening clearing.

As he emerged from the grim feel of the nursery, Whiteleaf was waiting.

"Redpaw, thank you for doing that," meowed Whiteleaf. Her eyes were welling up.

Redpaw nodded to older queen, respectfully.

He then bounded across camp, to where MistClan was gathering for departure.

"Attention, everyone! Listen up!" announced Spottedstar.

Redpaw trotted into the crowd.

"Graydust!" Spottedstar called.

A wary-looking Graydust strode up to her, Stormleaf and Adderfoot not far behind.

"Any news from your search?"

"Nothing new to report, Spottedstar. But Adderfoot was right. Countless intrusion scents. CloudClan has some explaining to do tonight," said Graydust.

"Good. I relieve you of this task."

Graydust dipped his head and rejoined his clanmates

At her command, the cats hanging about camp gathered below her perch, just as they had earlier in the day.

Now it was twilight. It had been dark all day, but now, the sky was finally clearing up as the sun set. Spottedstar prepared them to leave for the Great Hollow.

"Obviously, nightfall is literally on horizon. So, it's time we finally depart for the gathering!"  
Already, most of the cats going were all present and ready to go. Redpaw could still feel strong distrust in the atmosphere among his clanmates. What he couldn't decide was whether it was directed at CloudClan, DarkClan, or at Spottedstar herself.

Or maybe all three.

Redpaw still felt emotionally crushed from the heartwarming moment with the kits. He once more prayed to StarClan that poor Lionkit may have the strength to make it through the night.

"All right, is that everyone? Ok! Let's go!" announced Spottedstar  
Spottedstar trotted next to Stoneflower and took the lead towards the exit. She glanced over her splotched shoulder, "Barksky? Tigerfall Aren't you coming?"

"No," grumbled a dark-eyed Tigerfall, "We need to take care of the kits. They need us both. That's ok, right?"

"Yes, of course. Do you whatever it takes to help them recover."

"I'm staying, too!" called Whiteleaf. That was understandable. She probably wanted to be with her children Redpaw hoped it wouldn't be a last-words situation.

"And me," added Rosefang.

Now Redpaw was feeling kind of nervous. He had been planning to depend on her to explain to him how to behave, and how to act in front of the other apprentices. Or maybe to hang around if things got slow…

Now the clan was walking across the field.

Redpaw peers over the shoulders of his clanmates. Most of the clan was going. Leafpaw was walking pressed against Adderfoot, no surprise there.

He suddenly felt a pang of anxiety. There was going to be a lot cats there. A lot of apprentices. Mousedung, was he going to have to spend the whole night trying to make conversation with enemy cats? Sounds like fun.

The valley they crossed looked beautiful at this time of twilight. The sky was pink, the clouds were bright blue and purple. The grasslands seemed so vast in front of them when it got darker, and the air feeling cool and crisp. The white moon was just visible above the horizon. In the deep blue of sky, little, twinkling stars began to sprout.

"Redpaw. Redpaw! REDPAW!" growled Graydust. Redpaw snapped out of his awe to his mentor, yanking him from his thoughts.

"Yeah..?"

"Now listen. This is a very formal meeting. You're aren't just representing MistClan. You're representing me, as my apprentice. So you need to be on your best behavior, and be professional. You will not ruin my reputation and I will not be disgraced by your...antics. Understand?"

"Yes, I get it," sighed Redpaw. Somehow, Graydust asking him to behave for the good of his reputation made him want to do that less. But there was no disobeying him. Redpaw still had the scar from the time he back-talked to him. But, he supposed the scratch was nothing compared to the battle wounds. His paw was still sore, even after resting it.

The dusk got dimmer and dimmer. They continued along the hill marking CloudClan territory from the vast lowlands that was BlazeClan.

Redpaw noticed how Spottedstar didn't have Brookshadow or Hatchnose come. She probably didn't want them shouting out or protesting while the leaders settled their conflicts.

As the beautiful full moon rose up higher, MistClan drew closer to the hollow. The hollow was located on the three-way border between BlazeClan, CloudClan and DarkClan, and they was only minutes away from reaching the hollow now.

His mind raced as he wondered. What would the apprentices be like? Would the leaders come to an agreement? Would the other warriors be hostile? His stomach tightened.

But all of the thought was flushed from his mind as they approached the hollow. It was late dusk by now. Amber light pooled out from the wide opening in the rock.

Stopping at the entrance, Spottedstar swished her tail in admiration of the great rock holding the hollow, and then went in. MistClan marched in after her.

On his way in, Redpaw stopped, took one more deep breath, and then followed his clanmates inside.


End file.
